Walking Away
by Through Darkness and Light
Summary: After Sasuke's finally gotten back to Konoha everything in Naruto's life changes. In a drastic way. He runs away from the village only to be found by the one he was running away from. Yaoi SasuNaru
1. Prologue

Another Sasunaru fic, I swear those two haunt my thoughts!  
_**Warnings: Bad language, OOC-Ness and yaoi  
**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine, though when I dream he does belong to me... Mwhahah! So Far Away - Crossfade doesn't belong to me either_

_"....." Talking (duh!)  
'....' - Kyuubi talking in Naruto's mind  
"...." Kyuubi talking out loud  
__**'.....' Song  
**

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_

**Prologue**

It was a clear dark night, it was a full moon and its light illuminated a small village. In that village many people were resting peacefully. Totally unaware of the danger that was lurking in one of the houses.

A boy was looking at the moon as he sat down on his balcony. His blond hair gleaming in the moonlight and his azure eyes were locked on the full moon. He was thinking, thinking of everything that had happened the past few months. After almost 3 years he finally got his best friend back, his only love.

He had spent over two years training, to become strong enough to bring that person back to where he lived, to where he belonged. It had taken almost all of his energy to do so, but Uchiha Sasuke had come back with him anyway. The boy had no idea if it was pity or if Sasuke really wanted to come back. All he wanted, what he had wished for all that time was for Sasuke to come back to Konoha. To be back by his side.

_**I've been changing but you'll never see me now  
I've been changing but you'll never see me now  
Now I'm blaming you for everything**_

Everything went different then the blond had expected. His status in the village had taken a turn for the worse and everyone was treating him like before. Before he had become a ninja, before he had shown them he could control the demon sealed in him and before he came back with the Uchiha prodigy.

The villagers of Konoha seemed to have forgotten all about him and what he had accomplished, how he had risked his life to protect them from a tyrant called Pain. He wrapped his cloak closer to his body as the wind picked up. It was almost like the same cloak as his father had worn when he had been Hokage. His father's had been white and red, but his was red and black.

He sighed as a single tear made its way down his cheek. No one acknowledged him anymore, well almost no one. Gaara the Kazekage was still around and the current Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade, was as well. Jiraiya, Kakashi and some others were gone. His friends had started to lead their own life and seemed to never have time for him anymore. His life truly had taken a turn for the worse.

The most disturbing thing was that after he had brought Sasuke back, the raven seemed to avoid him altogether. Every time he even got a glimpse of the Uchiha he would disappear into thin air.

It was enough, he couldn't take it anymore. The voices in his head were so temping and because it was full moon the voices were louder. Kyuubi kept telling him that he didn't belong in Konoha, because no one trusted him fully anymore. It hurt when he thought of it and more tears made their way down his cheeks.

'_Don't you get it? If you stay here, if we stay here our life will become an even bigger disaster. Let's leave while we still can and let's show the people that they lost something they couldn't afford to lose.' _It all sounded tempting though he never gave into the voices, but this night was different.

This night he finally gave into the voice. He knew it was right. It had been right all along, it had told him to forget about the Uchiha and getting him back. That it wasn't worth it and the voice had been right. Kyuubi had been right, the fox had finally given in to his container and made peace with him and always looked out for him.

He turned around and walked back into his apartment to grab a few necessary things. His fingers glided over a picture of when he had just become a genin. The time when Kakashi-sensei was still alive and when he and Sasuke always fought over the silliest things. It was something he missed dearly.

But his patience was gone, everything had gone on for far too long and he couldn't stand it anymore. That night he had decided he was going to leave and never come back. This time, people would morn over him leaving the village like they did when Uchiha Sasuke had left the village. They would regret everything.

**_No more holding it in  
How many years can I pretend  
That nothing ever goes the way it should  
No more sitting in this place  
Hoping you might see it my way  
'Cause I don't think you ever understood  
That what I'm looking for are the answers  
To why these questions never go away_**

A cloud covered the moon and he made his move. He jumped off of his balcony and onto the rooftops. He could see the Hokage Mountain in the distance. At one time he had wanted to become the Hokage, to show everyone he was strong but that dream was long gone.

'Gone with the wind' as Kyuubi joked. Red chakra covered his body as he jumped over the rooftops, his anger growing every few seconds as he thought of everyone's betrayal. He stopped at the Hokage mansion and slipped into the office where Tsunade had fallen asleep. He took off the necklace around his neck and carefully placed it in her open hand.

"This is goodbye you old hag. Take care of everyone and please don't forget me." His voice trembled as he bid goodbye to the woman who had chosen him as her successor.

A tear fell on her hand and it twitched. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes and blinked as she focused on the person in front of her. The blond backed up as she sat up straight and looked down at the necklace in her hand. Tsunade looked back at him with a puzzled look.

"W-what are you doing brat?" She asked him as she studied his puffy eyes and red cheeks.

"Me? You wouldn't believe me if I said it old hag. But just so you won't worry, I'm going and never coming back."

Tsunade laughed and grabbed some sake. "No I don't believe you."

"Fine, then you'll have to watch me." He huffed and then jumped out of the windows. In surprise the Hokage stood up and shouted after him.

_**I'm so far away  
I've been changing but you'll never see me now  
I'm so far away  
Now I'm blaming you for everything**_

Nothing stopped him. He didn't look back when he heard her calling him telling him to come back. ANBU surrounded him just as he reached the gates. One of them stepped forward and asked him to come with them, he stepped back when the blond started laughing. More ANBU and several ninjas arrived and he laughed harder.

There was no way he would listen to them this time. Red chakra surrounded him for a second time that night and it pushed all the others away from him, causing them to crash into walls or onto the ground. Smirking he looked down so his bangs were covering his eyes.

He slowly explained how it was too late and that it was futile to even try to negotiate with him. A ninja got up and charged towards him only to be thrown back by a red chakra tail. He laughed as his canines and nails grew in length and his eyes turned into a crimson red. His pupils were replaced by slits like cats and the chakra that was around him turned into a fox form with three tails.

"It's useless now! TOO LATE!" He jumped up and threw kunai and shuriken at the ninja below him. Two of his tails latched out at small houses and destroyed them.

He would show them how wrong they were. He would show them that he was worth all their troubles and that he was to be respected like others. He would let them see their mistakes, for being so cruel to him when he was a child, for not believing in him as a ninja and for turning their back on him as soon as the Uchiha had returned.

The ninja were no match for him. He dodged every punch or kick with ease and recoiled with his own. (A/N: Imagine a kick ass fight scene where Naruto kicks butt, cause I suck a fight scenes) It was mere seconds later that the area he was standing in was reduced to rubble. The ninja were scattered over the ground bleeding or unconscious. He left them and made his way up the wall that surrounded Konoha and looked over the village as more people filled the streets because of all the commotion. The cloud that was covering the moon had finally moved away so that the light shined down on him.

More people were panicking by the time he shouted and fell to his knees. _'This time there's no turning back kit. It's now or never.' _

**_No more waiting for the end  
Of every day that I will spend  
Wishing that I only had a choice  
No more pushing you away  
'Cause I'll be busy watching things go my way  
Never looking back on this anymore  
'Cause what I'm looking for are the answers  
To why these questions never go away_**

He nodded in response and slowly stood back up. Right under him Tsunade was shouting at him to get his butt back off the wall and report to her immediately.

He laughed again, this time loud enough to be heard by the whole village. Then he suddenly stopped and cocked his head to the right and looked down at her, an evil grin showing off his sharpened canines.

"You stupid old hag! You wouldn't believe me even when I told you I was going to leave! I can see why the Uchiha wanted to leave so much all those years ago. This village is nothing! Only a nuisance!" He snapped as she and some people he knew jumped up on the wall and stood close by him.

"So you're going to try and stop me? This village has done nothing for me, they won't even say thank you for returning their goddamned precious Uchiha!"

A red chakra arm lashed down and destroyed some more houses and he laughed as the people close to it scream and ran in panic. Everything was going like he wanted it to. Making a big scene would make them fear him.

"You really are a Usuratonkachi aren't you?"

He turned around and faced the person who had caused him so much pain. The person he had learned to hate even though he loved him with all his heart.

"Don't give me that Uchiha! Wasn't it you who left them to become stronger?" He raised a finger and pointed at the raven.

"That's true, I won't deny it. But what are you going to do in the wilderness Uzumaki Naruto?"

The red chakra around Naruto disappeared and he clutched his cloak again. He glared at Sasuke and then slowly backed off towards the edge of the wall. He turned his head and looked out over the forest. The Uchiha was right, what would he do in the wilderness alone?

"_Don't give in! He betrayed you, show him how it feels to have your heart ripped out when the person you trust runs off carelessly!"_

_**I'm so far away  
I've been changing but you'll never see me now  
I'm so far away  
Now I'm blaming you for everything  
I've been changing but you'll never see me now  
Now I'm blaming you for  
Everything  
I'm so far away**_

Several people gasped when they heard the Kyuubi's voice illuminate the area. Naruto smirked evilly again, the demon was right. Sasuke had betrayed him once now it was his turn to return the favor.

"Goodbye." He whispered and leaned backwards and fell off the wall.

Tsunade shouted as she watched him tumble towards the ground and tried to jump after him but Sakura and Tenten stopped her.

Naruto gracefully landed on his feet at the bottom of the wall and ran into the forest. No one would stop him now; he gathered chakra to his feet and ran faster than he even had before. He wouldn't look back; he would never come in close range of Konoha again.

The voice edged him on again and he left his guilt feeling behind and felt glad he had left his summoning scroll back in his apartment.

_**Hey, hey watch me wave  
Goodbye to yesterday  
Nothing left in my way  
Hey, hey I've been saved  
With sun shining on my pain  
Getting me through this day  
Hey, hey watch me wave  
Goodbye to yesterday  
Nothing left in my way  
It feels so good to say**_

---

The ninja on the wall watched as a red blast of chakra blew away part of the forest and stared. He really left them; Naruto had run away from the village.

"He's gone… H-he's left me. I couldn't save him this time." Tsunade cried as she looked at the necklace in her hand. It reminded her of when she had lost her brother and the love of her life.

Only this hurt more. The hyperactive boy who she had seen as a little brother had left her and this time she knew it was her fault. It hurt so much that she collapsed on the wall and fell unconscious. She couldn't take the pain. It was too much for her. Sasuke looked at the forest in awe, the dobe had really left him. After all the trouble he had gone through to get him back to Konoha.

He left himself this time. It affected way more people than he would ever have thought of. Sasuke looked at Sakura and Tenten who were crying together and Hinata who was looking paler than she had ever been. Kiba, Shikamaru and Neji were staring at each other with their mouths wide open in surprise that the blond had actually had the guts to actually leave them. Then Sasuke made a decision. He would do whatever he could to get Naruto back. Naruto had done the same for him and he had to repay the debt.

"You baka, I'll get you back. I promise."

_**I'm so far away  
I've been changing but you'll never see me now  
I'm so far away  
Now I'm blaming you  
I'm so far away**_

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End~  
**TO CONTINUE OR NOT TO CONTINUE?!**  
Review!


	2. Chapter 1

**Yayz! It's the second chapter~! I would like to thank my many (and I mean MANY) reviewers for telling me to continue!**

**But one reviewer inspired me the most:** _Madidi _**this chapter is dedicated to you!! ^^**

_**Disclaimer: Naruto don't belong to me! (**__**Sobs)  
Warnings: Cuss words, OOC-ness and Yaoi**_

* * *

"What do you mean no one's been able to track him yet? He left about an hour ago!" Sasuke smashed his fist into the nearest wall and growled lowly as Tsunade and Sakura were watching him.

"Sasuke-kun, please be reasonable. We all know that when Naruto doesn't want to be found he kind of… well disappears."

"I don't care! Why aren't I allowed to search along with the others?"

"You know well why Uchiha…" Tsunade said as she folded her arms over her chest.

"You are too rash and don't think well when you've got your knickers in a twist. And even if I let you look for Naruto, why should I?"

"Because…" Sasuke paused for a moment to search for the right words. "He looked for me as well, when I left. I… I have a debt to repay."

Tsunade looked at the raven in front of her. She studied his body language and sighed when she saw that he really meant it. With a nod she looked back at the Uchiha.

"Fine, go search for him. But I want a report every hour!" She said as she pointed her finger at Sasuke.

Sasuke was unable to find any words to say. So he nodded and turned to leave the office. Immediately after stepping outside he broke into a run and dashed to the gates. He looked up at them, remembering the scene that had occurred there an hour ago. He focused chakra to his feet to be able to run faster and searched for the Anbu that were looking for Naruto at the moment.

Within minutes he made his way to the crater in the middle of the forest where Naruto must have used the Kyuubi's chakra to run faster. He spotted an Anbu he knew and walked towards him.

"Have you found anything yet?"

The ANBU shook his head and took his mask off. Sasuke watched impassively as Hyuuga Neji tied his mask around his waist.

"Nothing. Not a trace after this spot... It's almost like he disappeared completely. I've never seen anything like it."

"He couldn't just disappear!"

"That's what we thought as well. The Inuzuka's are looking for him with their dogs as we speak. Akamaru is our best bet, but he hasn't been able to fine anything yet either."

Sasuke bit his bottom lip as he started to pace. He had heard that Akamaru was the best nin-dog Konoha had known in decades, if he couldn't find Naruto they never would. Neji watched him as he walked from one side to the other.

Thinking hard, Sasuke tried to think of places where Naruto would either seek refuge or hide. Suddenly it hit him. He stopped pacing and looked at Neji.

"Have you contacted Suna yet?"

"No, not yet why?" Neji asked as he watched Sasuke run a hand through his dark hair.

"Naruto's best friends with the Kazekage, Gaara would protect Naruto with his life."

"You're right. We'll go together."

"No you're not." Another Anbu joined them and when Sasuke noticed who it was he stopped the urge to slap his forehead.

Sai took his mask off and placed it at his waist like Neji had and smiled. Sasuke scowled at the other raven; there was something about they boy that irked him immensely.

"Fine." Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

"Only if you shut up and let me do the talking."

Sai nodded and Sasuke turned and ran towards the direction of Sunagakure. Neji and Sai followed him closely. Neither of the three said a word as they quickly made their way to the Sand village.

They reached the village late in the afternoon and the guards were reluctant to let them in. A glare with spinning Sharingan eyes persuaded them though. One of the guards led them to the Kazekage's tower and another led them up the tower to Gaara's office. Softly the guard knocked on the door.

"Kazekage-sama."

A low grunt on the other side of the door acknowledged the other persons presence.

"There are three Konoha ninja here who say that they need to speak to you. Urgently."

"Then you can let them in…" Gaara's low voice answered.

The guard opened the door and bowed before letting Sasuke, Neji and Sai inside and left closing the door behind him. Gaara was leaning back in his chair and he watched the three ninja with pale emerald eyes. He shook his head and directed his eyes to Sasuke.

"May I ask what you are doing here?"

"Has Naruto been here, or have there been sightings of him in the past few hours?"

A non-existent eyebrow rose and Gaara straightened in his chair.

"Why do you ask?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but found that he didn't know exactly what to say for the second time that day. It was kind of hard to tell the Kazekage that his best friend had run off and threatened everyone he knew. Luckily Neji came to his rescue.

"Naruto… He left the village Kazekage-sama. We have no idea where he is and we were wondering if he came here."

With this Gaara stood up and walked towards the three Konoha shinobi. He grabbed Sasuke's shirt by the collar and pulled the Uchiha towards him and snarled.

"What do you mean, he's **gone**?!"

"Exactly that. Naruto left in a fit and we want him back." Sasuke said nonchalantly and he grunted when Gaara set him down again.

"No, he hasn't been here. In fact I haven't heard from him in at least two to three months. I was planning on visiting Konohagakure to catch up with him." Gaara growled and slammed his fist onto his desk.

"Damn it! Why is he always like this when he has troubles?"

Sai huffed. "It **is** Naruto-kun we're talking about here you know."

"Of course I do!" Gaara looked at him, face calm again and as expressionless as ever.

"I shall have Sand Nin accompany you in your search. I have important affairs to deal with later today and am unable to help search myself..." Gaara sighed before he sat himself back down onto his chair.

"Kazekage-sama!" A panting Sand Nin ran into the room and looked at his leader.

"A strange, strong chakra signature was indicated near the village!" The four men looked at each other and immediately came into action.

They were running out of the office and passed the ninja in milliseconds.

Sasuke and Gaara were the first to reach the village wall where another Sand Nin was waiting for them. He told them to follow him and sped off. Gaara nodded and he and Sasuke ran after him, ignoring Sai's calls to wait for him and Neji.

Within minutes they reached an outpost where yet another Sand Nin was waving at them. Kankuro was waiting for them at the bottom of the outpost.

"Gaara! It was so weird, first it was a single chakra signature but as soon as we picked it up it just… Split in two!"

"That's not possible Kankuro." Neji said as he arrived.

"I think it is." Kankuro turned to his brother and Sasuke. "Cause the first signature was Uzumaki Naruto's."

"What? Have you found him yet?"

"No. Some of our ninja are following the paths as we speak, but half have already lost the signature."

Sasuke cursed as Kankuro received another message from his earphone. He didn't need a verbal confirmation that they had lost Naruto's signature when he saw the expression on the Puppet Master's face. With a growl he turned on his heel and started stalking back towards Sunagakure.

"I knew he was headed this way… Damn it Naruto, where are you?!"

* * *

Naruto gasped as his foot caught a tree root. He crashed onto the ground and lay there panting for a few moments. He was foolish, to think he could stay in Suna until he found another permanent place to stay.

With a groan he sat back up and rubbed his sore head. His shadow clone caught up with him and bowed before it disappeared. He had had a tough time trying to outrun the Sand ninja. Naruto grunted in pain when he stood back up, but that pain didn't stay for long. Seconds later it was gone, thanks to Kyuubi's healing.

The only thing he hadn't been counting on was when he felt Sasuke's chakra signature enter the perimeter of the Sand village. That teme hadn't paid any attention to him in at least 6 months. What would make now any different?

_Flashback_

"_Baa-chan! You've got to let me see Sasuke..!"_

"_No gaki, I already said no!"_

"_But Tsunade…" Naruto looked up at her and pouted._

_Tsunade turned away from him with a scowl and waited a few minutes. Slowly she turned her head around to see if Naruto was still there, and of course he was. _

_A pout on his face and large puppy dog eyes. Tsunade groaned and turned to face him again._

"_Fine, fine Uzumaki. But you owe me for this!" Tsunade sat down in her chair and wrote a letter which allowed Naruto to visit Sasuke at his house where he was to stay until his house arrest was expelled. _

"_Arigato Baa-chan!" Naruto grabbed the letter as soon as she finished her signature._

_With a grin plastered on __his face Naruto ran through the streets of Konoha until he reached Sasuke's apartment. He held up his hand to silence the Anbu in front of him and pushed the letter into his hands while he tried to catch his breath again._

_Reluctantly the Anbu moved aside with a sigh and Naruto moved forward and placed his hand on the doorknob before pausing._

"_I told you she was going to let me in Sai."_

"_Fine, I owe you dinner. Now go before I have to change shift!"_

_Naruto chuckled as he opened the door and stepped inside the apartment. He stopped in his tracks, Sasuke's apartment was dark and he waited a few seconds before his eyes became crimson and therefore he was able to use his 'night vision'. Naruto had found out that if he tapped into Kyuubi's chakra just a little he could manipulate his eyesight to easily see in the dark. _

_Slowly he made his way through the mid-sized apartment, marvelling how much bigger it was than his, until he reached Sasuke's bedroom. He could sense Sasuke's chakra from just behind the door. With a gulp he knocked on the door. When no answer came he opened the door and stepped inside._

_Sasuke was sitting by the window, staring out at the night sky. The raven didn't move an inch to acknowledge Naruto's presence when Naruto stepped in further and closed the door behind him._

"_H-hey Sasuke... I came to see how you were doing."_

_Onyx eyes turned to look at Naruto for a minute before turning back to stare outside. Naruto opened his mouth to comment the Uchiha's behaviour, but chose against it. He sat down on Sasuke's bed and sighed._

"_Look Sasuke, I'm sorry that Baa-chan ordered you to house arrest for a month. It must be very boring… I'm just happy that they haven't decided to, well interrogate you or" Naruto gulped and whispered. "Execute you…"_

"_Why would you be happy?" Sasuke's cold voice asked._

"_Well because… Look here Sasuke! I've been running after you for three years and you ask me why I'm happy and relieved?!"_

"_Then what do you do now?"_

"_I'll..!" Naruto stopped and thought about it. He hadn't thought about it yet. He bit his bottom lip nervously and chuckled._

"_Hn. Figures."_

"_What do you mean by that teme?"_

"_I mean, that I'm not in the mood for talking." Sasuke turned his head to look Naruto straight in the eye._

"_And I'm certainly not in the mood for _**you**_."_

_Naruto didn't even try to stop from gasping as he stared at Sasuke. Immediately his crimson eyes darkened a little before he stood up again. He gritted his teeth as he walked back to the bedroom door._

"_Fine!" He hissed. "But don't come crying to me when you want to talk or something." _

_Naruto slammed the door shut behind him and bit his bottom lip so hard that he tasted blood. Tears rolled over his cheeks as he ran through the apartment and out the door. Sai tried to grab Naruto's arm when the blond ran out of the door, but Naruto was running too fast. Concerned Sai shouted after him._

_Sasuke was watching from his bedroom window as the blond ran off. He almost felt his heart clench when he saw the blonds' face, tears running down his tanned cheeks and usual bright azure eyes clouded. He moved from the window and grabbed something from under his pillow. He held it close to his heart before hiding it again._

"_It's for your own good, dobe."_

_End Flashback_

Cursing his thoughts Naruto slapped his forehead. Now he would have to find another place to hide out. It would be hard to hide from the Konoha Ninja, but he would have to make the best of it. With a sigh he brushed dirt off of his cloak and started walking in the opposite direction of Suna, not knowing where he was walking towards.

* * *

Early the next day Sasuke, Neji and Sai returned to Konoha. Tsunade shouted at Sasuke for not reporting back every hour like promised and through her whole rant the Uchiha didn't even flinch. She glared at him and sighed before falling back into her chair and calling Shizune to fetch her some sake.

"So he was there and then you lost him?"

"With all due respect Hokage-sama. We had hardly just arrived in Sunagakure when he was signalled outside the village. There was nothing we could do before he disappeared again." Neji explained.

"Fine, I won't blame any of you on this. Neji, Sai you two may take your leave. Take a day off or something to rest for all I care and then continue with the search."

"With all due respect." Sai and Neji said in unison.

"I think we'll keep searching for now Tsunade-sama." Sai finished for the both of them with a small smirk.

Tsunade nodded and shooed them out of the room. Once they were alone again Tsunade turned back to Sasuke. She motioned him to sit down as Shizune came into the room with a bottle of sake and two glasses.

Sasuke shook his head when Tsunade offered him a glass and with a smirk she drank it herself.

"So what do we do now Uchiha? You're the genius here now."

"If I knew, I wouldn't be here." Sasuke snapped.

"Now, now no need to be harsh. I know we have our differences, but we need to work together to get through this."

"Hn."

"Don't give me that ok..?" Tsunade drank another glass of sake and sighed.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Isn't it obvious? I have a debt to repay for all those years Naruto chased after me. Now, unfortunately it's my turn to do the chasing."

"Good, now you can go as well."

Sasuke nodded and bowed slightly before leaving the room. Grunting Tsunade placed the glass aside and grabbed the bottle instead, ignoring Shizune's pleas not to. She watched Sasuke walk out of the building and her eyes followed him. If only he knew what him ignoring Naruto for such a long time had hurt the blond so.

Naruto had never told her himself about his problems with Sasuke ever since the Uchiha came back. But ever since his first, and only, visit to the raven the light in his eyes had faded a little. Seeing Naruto as her son Tsunade asked him frequently what was wrong and even though he said it was nothing she never believed him.

It was the eyes. Naruto didn't know, but his eyes betrayed him so much more often than he thought. Even more than Sasuke had.

"Shizune."

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"I need more sake. The youth nowadays is even more exhausting than those of 20 years ago." Tsunade's eyes rolled over to the Yondaime's photograph.

"Much more." She said with a faint smile.

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	3. Chapter 2

**The third chapter. I'm sorry for making you all wait so long! But since I (FINALLY!) have summer vacation I'll have more time to write again!  
Enjoy peeps!  
And _Madidi_, I love you! Thanks for your comments, they really keep me going! =D **

Disclaimer: Not mine. Damn.  
Warnings: See previous chapters

* * *

It had been four long, agonizing years for Sasuke. Four years since that person had left the village. Four years since that person turned his back on him and everything they had been at one time. In all those four years he had searched for Naruto, just like that blond had searched for him the time he had left to go to Orochimaru.

The search hadn't been successful in any way. He had already been announced as a nuke-nin and had gained a spot in the BINGO book. There hadn't even been a single sign of him in over three years. In the beginning there had been rumours that he was 'haunting' a house in the Suna, but those were quickly proven wrong. In the meantime many things had changed in the village, Sasuke and a few others had become Anbu while some just settled down.

Sasuke and his team just walked out of the Hokage's office and they got ready to leave. Half an hour later they were on their way to a small town in the Water country. Once they got there Sasuke told them to split up and meet in the middle of the village at noon. Sasuke was walking through the village market place asking around when an owner of a small shop started waving at him.

"Young man! I can help you here!" Sasuke walked over to the man and followed him into his shop, which turned out to be a clothing shop.

They walked towards the back and the man opened a door which led to a small room.

"Sit down while I go make us some tea."

Sasuke sat down on a worn couch while the older man went to the kitchen; he came back minutes later with two cups and a kettle of hot tea. He placed it on the table and gave Sasuke a cup. They both took a sip before the man looked up at him again.

"I heard that there were ninja in the village asking around about the plundering. I assume you are one of these."

"Yes sir."

"Well, you don't have to ask around anymore. No one fears that the nuke-nin are going to come back anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"They've been taken care of by Yoru no Kage."

Sasuke nodded curtly and placed his empty tea cup back on the table before leaning back into the couch.

"The Shadow of the Night? Can you tell me more about this person?"

"Well, not more than any other villager. He just came, that's all." The man's eyes suddenly widened. "I did receive a package yesterday though; it contained the cloak he always wears. If you follow me I can show it to you, maybe you'll be able to identify him."

The man stood up and stopped for a second. "How rude of me, my name is Takahiro."

Sasuke shook the mans hand. "Sasuke."

Takahiro nodded and led Sasuke back to the front of the shop and through another door which was used as a working area. The older man walked up to a closet and sent Sasuke a smile as he opened the closet.

Seeing that he didn't get any reaction from the raven-haired shinobi he turned around and gaped at the empty closet. He could have sworn he had seen the cloak hours earlier! Takahiro frantically started to search through the room as Sasuke stepped up to the closet and found a small piece of parchment. He picked it up and handed it to the other.

'_Takahiro,_

_I thank you for your services. It has been a while since my cloak has been taken good care of. Your work fascinates me, everything was so well done. _

_As thanks take this gem it should also pay the costs of mending my cloak. Thank you again._

_-Yoru no Kage.'_

Takahiro grinned widely and was about to hand Sasuke the note when they heard a woman scream outside the shop. Sasuke made it to the door in a split second and stared into the eyes of a nuke-nin who was mobbing a woman.

Without a single moment of hesitation Sasuke grabbed a kunai and threw it into the nuke-nin's left calf. With a hiss the man pulled it out of his leg and threw it back at Sasuke before fleeing into the alleys.

Sasuke ran up to the woman and checked her over for any injuries. He mentally groaned when he saw her eyes follow his every movement. He helped her stand up and Takahiro came out of his store.

"Nicely done young Sasuke!"

"It's nothing really, all in a days work."

* * *

Two dark, hooded figures watched the scene unfold before their eyes. The taller one looked at the other figure to see his reaction. When nothing happened he smirked under his hood.

"Looks like Yoru no Kage was too late this time."

The smaller figure shrugged as he blew out smoke from his mouth and then flicked the cigarette butt to the side. The nuke-nin came running into the alley they were in and the smaller held out his arm just as the nuke-nin wanted to pass him. With a grunt the man collided with the ground and fell unconscious.

"Don't say anything until you know it for certain old friend…"

With a laugh the larger figure looked down at the nuke-nin and then at the shinobi who was helping the woman stand up again. He scowled and clutched his fists.

"It just had to be him right? Should've known he would be the one to find us eventually."

"He hasn't found us just yet." The smaller figure looked down at the unconscious man and looked at the man next to him.

"Take him with us."

Then he crouched before leaping on top of the building next to them and ran across several rooftops. Growling the other man grabbed the nuke-nin's collar and followed his companion.

"You should stop smoking! It's bad for you!" He shouted after the other man.

Mismatched eyes glared at him and he smirked at the others reaction. It was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

Sasuke had just offered the woman he had saved more help when the rest of his team came running towards him.

"Sasuke! Where the hell were you we've been waiting for over 15 minutes! Not used to you being to late with your Uchiha punctuality!" Kiba shouted as he softly punched Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hn." He replied

"Learn to talk in sentences please? Then we might be able to understand you better!"

The woman stepped out of Sasuke's grip and suddenly turned away from him and shouted in joy. Her finger pointed up onto the clock tower.

"Look it's Yoru no Kage!"

5 Pairs of eyes turned to where she was pointing and soon the villagers in the streets were cheering to their hero.

Sasuke squinted his eyes to see better, there were two men on the clock tower. One slightly smaller than the other and the tallest had the nuke-nin who had just escaped from Sasuke's grasp draped over his shoulder.

The wind picked up for a second and Sasuke's eyes widened from what he saw. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his teammates stare at him, not used to seeing such an emotion on the Uchiha's face. The wind picked up again and Sasuke knew it for sure. Underneath the black cloak of the smaller figure was another cloak, a red cloak with black flames.

"Naruto..." He whispered.

The others eyes turned back to the figure on top of the clock tower in shock. Takahiro gasped when he heard that name come out of Sasuke's mouth.

"Naruto-san?" He said before waving. "Naruto-san! It's a pleasure to see you again!"

Mismatched eyes squinted again as they looked over the city center. His cover had been blown, exactly in front of the people he was trying so hard to avoid. Naruto nodded to his companion as he used the Shunshin no Jutsu to move next to Takahiro.

Sasuke covered his eyes as harsh winds pushed him backwards away from Takahiro. When he looked up again he found himself looking against seven other cloaked figures standing in a circle around Naruto and Takahiro. Each with different coloured eyes, red, purple, green, brown, yellow, black and orange.

His eyes widened once again when he found himself looking at Naruto, who was standing in front of Takahiro. It seemed as if he was stuck in his one-tailed form, only without the red chakra.

Naruto's entire left side was exactly like Sasuke remembered from what he had seen during the Chuunin exams. His eye crimson red with a slit, like a cat, instead of a pupil, darkened whisker marks, long canine and razor sharp claws.

"It's nice to see you again Takahiro." Naruto started, completely ignoring Sasuke and the others. "Only a pity that now I've been recognized I'll have to leave this place."

"Naruto!"

"Dude, what the hell are you doing here?!"

Sakura pushed passed Lee and Kiba and ran towards the circle of cloaked figures. As soon as she reached one of the figures its arm reached out and grabbed her arm before flinging her back towards the others. Lee ran over and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Naruto, it's… Really you." Sasuke said as he watched in awe that he could finally see the blond again.

Slowly Naruto's head turned and he looked Sasuke in the eye before he smirked evilly. A low chuckle erupted from his body and became a full blown laugh a few seconds later. Suddenly he stopped and smirked at Sasuke.

"I'm not going back to the village, you'll never be able to get me to come back." Naruto said "Wait a second. Doesn't **that **sound familiar to you Sasuke?!" Naruto snapped.

"Naruto, please come back with us!"

"Give up Sasuke. Go home."

"Naruto my friend! You must come back with us! We have been searching for you with all our youthfulness for many years, everyone misses you!" Lee shouted as he helped Sakura stand back up.

Naruto tensed and turned his gaze towards one of the taller figures in the circle before looking at Takahiro again. He smiled lightly to the older man and let go of his shoulder. With a flick of his wrist he brought a cigarette to his mouth and lit it. He inhaled deeply and nodded his head. The cloaked figures that surrounded them opened both sides of their cloaks hiding Naruto and Takahiro from the others sight. Seconds later they shut them again and disappeared into the oblivion, Takahiro was still standing in the same spot staring at the point where Naruto had been standing mere seconds before.

The rest of the crowd slowly parted to get on with the things they still had to do before nightfall. Sasuke, Takahiro, Sakura, Lee and Kiba stayed in the same spot. All bewildered by what had just taken place right in front of them.

The sun was starting to set when Takahiro looked to the younger people, wondering what their bonds were with Naruto. He moved next to Sasuke and placed a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him.

"Do you kids have a place to stay tonight? If not I still have two rooms at my place where you could stay."

"Thank you Takahiro-san, but it's best we get back to our village." Sasuke stated.

"Nonsense! You all need rest. I can see in your eyes that you all suffer from emotional stress from our little encounter."

With that Takahiro made his way back to his store and strangely Sasuke found himself motioning his teammates to follow him. Takahiro led them to the upper floor of his shop and showed them to their rooms.

Once the others had settled in Sasuke climbed up to the roof and stared up at the night sky. Another chakra signature joined him and he looked to see who it was. Kiba smiled at him before sitting down next to him. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes when Kiba sighed.

"He's changed a lot hasn't he?"

Sasuke nodded slowly as Kiba carried on.

"When Lee told him everyone missed him, he seemed to tense up. I can't help but feel that it's my fault in some way."

"Your fault? What do you mean?" Sasuke as he raised an eyebrow and studied the Inuzuka.

"After you came back, suddenly everyone had other things to do. More missions came rushing in and I for one was getting used to my new girlfriend, Hinata. We got together sometimes, the Rookie Nine and Gai's team. Whenever Naruto joined us it was as if something was missing. As if a light in him had died out. About a month or two later he stopped showing up at all. I just thought he was busy with other things you know?"

Kiba paused for a moment, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"So I didn't put any effort in to just pop by his apartment, just for old time's sake. Hinata was really concerned and I just told her it was nothing, that he'd come around. But he never did… I feel like such a bad friend for not knowing what was going on in that thick blond head of his!!"

With a heavy sigh Kiba tugged his hair and fell backwards onto his back. He stared up at the stars and wrapped his arms behind his head, savouring the moment. Sasuke looked down at him with an empty expression. Then he spotted something in the corner of his eye, someone was moving on top of the rooftops.

He looked around to scan the area again and sighed when he didn't find anything. Suddenly Kiba shot up with wide eyes, sniffing the air.

"Do you smell that?"

"No, I don't have a dog's sense of smell Inuzuka." Sasuke growled as Kiba shot a glare at him.

"It smells similar to the scent that was on Naruto earlier today. Look!" Kiba pointed towards another rooftop where a cloaked figure was standing.

Sasuke immediately gave Kiba a silent command to follow they figure as he jumped back up to his feet. They jumped to the next roof; the figure however saw this and started running off.

They were pursuing an unknown target in the middle of the night in the middle of a small village. Suddenly the figure changed course and ran back towards them. He bumped into Sasuke and nearly managed to push him off of the roof if Kiba hadn't grabbed the Uchiha's arm.

Sasuke watched as the cloaked man ran over the rooftops at top speed. He motioned to Kiba to follow him over the roofs while he followed him from the ground. The Inuzuka nodded and sped after their target as his leader jumped down to the ground. Activating his Sharingan Sasuke tried to pinpoint the figures next move. He caught it in a split second and jumped up onto the roof.

He heard a low gasp coming from the figure and it hesitated for a second. A bright light appeared from under the cloak and Sasuke cursed under his breath as it ran towards him. It was the Rasengan; he could recognize that jutsu anywhere. Sasuke dodged it easily and grabbed a kunai and sliced at the figure's cloak. Kiba arrived just as the cloak fell into pieces and flew off with the wind. The figure in front of them was nearly an exact copy of Naruto, the only difference were his chocolate brown eyes and marine blue hair.

"Oh dear! It seems like the two of you have caught me!" He said in a teasing tone. When he saw Sasuke's and Kiba's reactions he giggled.

"So Inuzuka, Uchiha-bastard. What are you going to do now that you've caught me?"

"Who the hell are you and how do you know who we are?!" Kiba demanded.

"Well, you can call me Kawa. And I know who you are because I am a part of Uzumaki Naruto-kun." The man they now knew as Kawa said.

"A part of Naruto?"

"Indeed! I am a Chiyuuki no Genkai Kage Bunshin, he is my creator."

"Kawa… There is no such thing as an Earth-Bound Shadow Clone." Sasuke explained slowly as the man looked as though he were in thought.

"There are now! My brothers and I are results of it! See, there are six of us. Me, Seishin, Doukutsu, Raito, Kurayami and Taiyou! We're named for after where we were named. I was made in a river, Doukutsu in a cavern, Raito in the light of day, Kurayami in the darkness and Taiyou under the heat of the sun and as for Seishin… I don't actually know, he was the first of us so it's logical he's called 'Soul'"

Sasuke and Kiba stared at each other for a moment as Kawa started rambling about the bond he had with his 'brothers'. At least until he got to a certain part.

"And then there's our oldest brother! He's a total mystery though, that sly fox!"

"Fox? What do you mean?!"

"Oops!" Kawa covered his mouth with a tanned hand. "Guess I've said too much, now I have to say goodbye."

"Wait!" Sasuke reached out to grab Kawa as the man bowed, but as soon as his fingers brushed his clothing Kawa turned into a puddle of water. The water collected itself before it rolled off of the roof.

"That… Was creepy." Kiba said with a shiver.

Sasuke nodded and turned back to Kiba.

"We should get back to Takahiro's place. I'm planning on leaving early tomorrow morning and I don't want to spend an hour trying to kick your ass out of bed."

"Oh haha 'captain'! Give me a break ok?"

"Hn. Then it won't be my fault if we're already gone when you wake up."

"Dude! That's so **not **fun-… Sasuke where the hell did you go?!"

* * *

The next morning Kiba made sure he was the first up, which of course impressed Sasuke. Maybe he should make a habit of doing things like that more often.

Sasuke had sent a messenger bird in front of them to let the Hokage know that they were on their way back and that they wanted an urgent meeting right when they arrived.

Takahiro had made them breakfast and walked with them to the small village's gates. The older man sighed and smiled brightly.

"Are you youngsters sure you don't want to stay a little while longer?"

"We thank you for your hospitality Takahiro-san. But we have to get back to the village. Maybe if Naruto hadn't turned up…" Sakura looked away and blinked away her tears.

"No, I understand. Get back home safely! And remember, if you ever come near walk by my place and give me a ring ok?"

"Of course old dude! Thanks for breakfast, it was awesome!"

"Thank you Takahiro-san."

"It's not a problem Sasuke. Just remember our promise we made at breakfast alright?"

"Of course."

Sasuke nodded remembering that he had promised Takahiro to keep him updated on their everlasting search for Naruto. He and his team waved goodbye and placed their masks back in front of their faces. They were speeding through the trees back towards Konohagakure seconds later.

It was silent throughout their journey back home. Kiba, who was the most talkative of them all, hadn't even said a single word. It was near nightfall when they reached home, both physically and mentally tired. As soon as the reached the village Izumo led them to the Hokage's office, where Tsunade was waiting for them.

Sasuke stayed standing up straight while the others bowed in front of their hokage. Tsunade looked at him with a scowl on her face and motioned for Izumo to leave. If it were possible she'd swear that the Uchiha had gotten more arrogant and self-centred ever since Naruto had left. Tsunade leaned back into her chair and folded her arms over her overly-large chest.

"I'm glad to hear that your mission went well." She motioned the four to step forward and remove their masks.

"But… That last part you wrote Sasuke… Did you all really see him?"

"Yes, Hokage."

Tears filled Tsunade's eyes as she thought of the blond she had seen as her son.

"You described him as half-fox, half-Naruto. Explain."

"Well Tsunade-sempai. It's kind of hard to explain, especially if one hasn't seen it before. But just try to imagine Naruto using Kyuubi's chakra, without the visible chakra, and then his left side with the Kyuubi amplified features." Sakura explained.

"Pff… She's right dude, I've seen it and I don't even get what she's saying…"

**-WACK-**

"Ow!!"

"Your own fault."

Tsunade shook her head at their childish antics and grabbed a scroll from her desk. She stood up and placed the scroll in Sakura's hands.

"An old friend has decided to visit which is why I also invited Neji as well."

Neji entered the room and bowed low before walking to stand next to Lee. Sakura gasped and opened the scroll. As she read the scroll her smile became wider and wider. Lee was reading along over her shoulder and beaming brightly.

"Tsunade-sama! You really mean?!"

"Yes Sakura, she's to arrive at the village within minutes."

With a squeal Sakura ran out of the room dragging Lee behind her. Kiba blinked comically as she rushed past him and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Neji merely shook his head and started walking out of the room as well. Sasuke and Kiba followed close behind.

They caught up to Sakura by the West Gates where she was standing talking to a blonde haired girl. Lee was nodded fervently as he listened to their conversation.

"Shion! I'm so happy to see you again!"

"And I you Sakura. I haven't had much to do these last few months and thought. 'Hey, why not visit Konohagakure and see my old friends?' So I did!"

"It is a charming surprise that we can see you again Shion. Look Neji is with us as well!" Lee exclaimed.

"I see that, thank you. Now where's Naruto? I haven't seen him yet either. Maybe he's training to become Hokage and can't see me yet? Right that's probably it! Let me see him! I have a present for him."

Sakura gasped and tears ran down her cheeks in an instant. Lee ran to her side and embraced her as she sobbed, wetting his shirt. Shion watched in confusion. A hand pressed down on her shoulder and she looked up into the eyes of Neji.

"Shion-sama. I am sorry to say that Naruto isn't in the village. And hasn't been for the last four years…"

* * *

**_LeGasp!  
_  
I left you guys with a cliffhanger! Reviews make me very, very happy!**


	4. Chapter 3

**And there we have it! The next chapter of my infamous fanfiction 'Walking Away'. I am sorry for the long wait, again.. ;  
My personal life is really, really choatic right now and whenever if find time to write I can't seem to find any inspiration... This chapter was pretty hard to write. And I'm not THAT pleased with it. I hope that it isn't too confusing and such.. **

**:sigh: Madidi, my sweet Madidi =3 I once again bow down to your awesomeness! I thank you for your wonderful ideas and helping me get rid of my writers block! :kawaii chibi TDaL glomps you: SASUNARU FOR LIFE!!!**

:Clears throat: Now onto the rest of the whole shabang...

**Disclaimer: I wished on a star last night, they suck... Because Naruto still isn't mine!!  
Warnings: See previous chapters, although you should get the drill by now.**

_'Sasuke's memories'_

**

* * *

**

Shion stared at Neji for a moment before her eyes moved to look at Sakura, who was still crying and then met Lee's eyes. Lee frowned and looked away from her intense gaze. Shion gasped and clutched her fists.

"Wha…. What do you mean he's not here?! And hasn't been for four years? Why would he leave in the first place? A-and where is he now?! I don't understand!" She shrieked.

She watched as Neji looked at her, he pitied her. Shion tried to calm herself down when she noticed she had begun to shake. Only then she noticed there were other ninja as well. And her eyes caught Sasuke's figure. Pale skin, onyx eyes and a duck-butt hair style. It only took her seconds to recognize him and start to fume as she stomped towards him.

"YOU! Uchiha! It's your fault that he's gone isn't it?! He was so obsessed with getting you back and now you're standing here in front of me and he's GONE?!" She pounded her fists against his chest, tears rolling off her face as she screamed at him.

Shion felt that she was pulled back and was about to punch that person in the face. She turned around, face red with rage, and paused as she stared at Sakura.

"Please Shion. Leave Sasuke-kun alone. We'll take you to your hotel and we can talk further there ok?"

"Fine." She stalked back towards her guides to instruct them to follow her and Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't listen to her Sasuke-kun. She's just shocked."

Somehow Sasuke didn't feel any better. Shion came back and Sakura grabbed her arm and started to drag her through Konoha.

* * *

It didn't take a long time before Shion had her things unpacked and put away. They were currently sitting in her living room. Sakura and Shion were catching up, talking about every little thing while the others just watched them.

"You know." Shion said. "I was so looking forward to seeing him. I promised him that I would bring him back something from the demon country. I guess… I won't be able to then." Shion said with a frown.

"And I had something so very important to tell him! You see, I finally told myself to stop mourning my mother and being such a bitch and decided that it was time to get her things and decide what to do with them. And you wouldn't believe what I found!"

She grabbed her bag and took out a frame, a diary and a small box.

"I found her diary and decided to read through it. By that time I had already received letters from Naruto about the fight for Konoha and finding out who his parents were. Now, as I was reading I came across a familiar name. Uzumaki Kushina."

"No way!"

"Yes way now let me finish. Apperantly she and my mother had met at around the same age as we were when we met. Her father had come to the country because he was tired of home and decided to take a vacation and came to the Demon country to visit his old friend, my grandfather. They met and Kushina stayed for about half a year- although her father had left earlier and within that time the two became best friends! I have a picture of them."

She held up the frame and pointed at it.

"The woman on the left was my mother, Miroku and next to her Kushina. Described as a crazy, hyper, talkative red head."

"I've never seen a picture before. She was beautiful. Now I guess we know where Naruto got his personality from!" Sakura said as she took the picture over from Shion.

"Now, you know the pink bell I have… As I read on I discovered that it is not the only one in existence. The other, a blue one was given to Kushina as a reminder of their friendship. It returned years later though. When she died... From her diary entries my mother shows great grief and mourned for her friend for a long time… But now I have the other bell with me and the picture as a present for Naruto! But… I guess I won't be able to give them to him…"

"Shion… Everything will be ok. Believe me." Sakura said, hoping to cheer her friend up a little.

"I _want _to believe you Sakura!"

Sasuke sighed mentally as he watched the girls start to bicker again. He wanted to roll his eyes at some point at their silly, childish antics, but his Uchiha pride wouldn't let him.

Instead he slipped out of a window and sat down on the roof. Sasuke took a deep breath and closed his eyes and lay down. He relaxed, blocking out the sounds coming from inside the apartment and drifted off into sleep.

* * *

_Sasuke almost wanted to groan when he was brought in front of the council once again. How many times had it been since he had come back two months ago? It was dragging on for far too long and frankly, he was getting very tired of it very quickly. He also didn't like seeing all those wretched faces. _

_Tsunade led Sasuke to his seat and moved to sit down in her own across the room. One of the elders stood up and cleared his throat._

"_Today we have gathered here for the trial of Uchiha Sasuke. The council will deliberate about the verdict once this session is over." _

_Without intending to, Sasuke felt his eyes widen a bit. It certainly was time! He listened with half an ear as several witnesses and others came up and told the council about his deeds. He had to suppress a growl when his brother's name was mentioned. He knew now that it hadn't been Itachi alone who had planned the Uchiha massacre and still hated the council for demanding something like that._

_He answered all questions truthfully and waited again when the council started to talk. Suddenly the same elder as before stood up and raised his right hand._

"_We have heard enough. We ask the accessed and others present to leave the room as we are going to deliberate."_

_A soft murmur sounded through the room as people filed out of it. Tsunade walked up to Sasuke again and pulled him out of the room._

"_You know, you're one lucky brat."_

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow._

"_How so?"_

"_It's not only because of who you are, but also because of your connections that they probably won't give you a heavy sentence such as death or imprisonment for life. It wouldn't even surprise me if they let you walk free after a year tops."_

_He leaned against the wall and avoided everyone's eyes. Half of the people present he hadn't even ever seen before. So why they were here was a mystery to him. After a few minutes of waiting Tsunade and Sasuke were called to reenter. _

_Walking in step with the Hokage he entered the room again. Instead of leading him to his usual seat Tsunade paused in front of the councils table and placed her hand on his shoulder._

"_Hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke. The council has made a decision."_

_As the man began to explain his sentence Sasuke couldn't help but clutch his fists and feel the need to snap and lunge over the table to strangle the man. Luckily for them, he had chakra restraints on and was already exhausted. He knew that otherwise his Sharingan would have been blazing by now._

"_Preposterous!" Tsunade shouted._

"_How do you expect a boy his age to even be thinking about that now! You all must be out of your mind to even think about it!"_

"_With all due respect Tsunade. We also have to think about the future of our village!"_

"_It's still bullshit! There's no way that we're even going to think of agreeing to this stupid id-!"_

_Sasuke held up a hand to stop Tsunade. She stared down at him in disbelief as he stepped forward, his eyes cold and hard as he spoke to the council._

"_I accept the terms of my sentence. Although I must say that I do agree with the Hokage."_

_A young man to his left cackled as he listened to Sasuke._

"_You'd better watch it Uchiha, we can change our minds rather quickly." He said with a sneer._

_Tsunade huffed at them and roughly grabbed Sasuke's upper arm and prepared to drag him out of the room._

"_One moment Hokage-sama." The old man said. "He must keep this document as well."_

_Tsunade snatched it out of his hand and dragged Sasuke out of the building. As soon as they came out of the door people surrounded them to hear about Sasuke's sentence. With a glare Tsunade shut them all up and continued walking until they were back in her office. _

"_You are an idiot Uchiha; of course you're going to have to tell Naruto yourself. I'm sure that he's going to want to know."_

"_I'm not going to. He's not going to know and you aren't going to tell him all the details either." Sasuke said as he leaned back into his chair._

_

* * *

_

Naruto was tracing figures on the arm of his chair, his shoulders tense as he sat in his hideout. The sun had just set and he was waiting. He relaxed and mewled as skilled hands started massaging his shoulders.

"Why are you so stressed Naru? We all know that Kawa has probably done his job well. He might be a dunce, but you fail to remember that he always gets the job done no matter what."

Listening to that familiar voice made Naruto smirk. Whenever he was in trouble or down that person would always be there for him. He leaned back into his chair and fished a smoke out of his pocket. It was taken out of his hands seconds later.

"What did I say about smoking?"

"Do I look like I care?" Naruto said as he took it back and placed it between his lips. He snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared above his thumb and he used it to light his cigarette before flicking his wrist causing it to go out.

"I know Kawa is reliable. I do not doubt his abilities at all. Nor should you assume that I do. You should know better Kyuubi."

Kyuubi smirked and wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and placed his chin on his shoulder.

"I never assume different things. After all, we are one remember? I just like to play with you." Kyuubi whispered as he played with Naruto's long ponytail.

"I do not understand why you don't let it loose."

"It would get in the way otherwise."

Kyuubi shook his head. "Bollocks!"

Just then the doors opened and Kawa came walking in with the other Chiyuuki no Genkai Bunshins in tow. Raito was tugging on Kawa's shirt, demanding him to tell him what the Uchiha and Inuzuka had looked liked. Taiyou had his arm wrapped around the smaller boy's shoulders and asked if Sasuke was still as hot as they remembered.

"Kawa! Welcome back."

"Meh, I can't say that I'm glad to be back. Not even one minute has gone by and I'm already being stalked by Blondie and Mister 'I think I'm sexy' here!"

"Oh come on Kawa. Even you have to admit that the Uchiha is sex on legs."

"I'm too young to hear this stuff!" Kawa plugged his ears with his fingers and shook both of them off of him before stepping up to Naruto and Kyuubi.

"Yeah, I gave them the hint you wanted me to tell them. Although..."

"You told them a tad too much." Kyuubi smirked against Naruto's neck, causing the blond to shiver.

Kawa cleared his throat and blushed slightly. Naruto chuckled as he pushed Kyuubi's arms off of him and stood up. He walked up to Kawa with long strides and placed a hand on his shoulder. The blond smirked as he leaned down to Kawa's eyelevel.

"It doesn't matter. I sent you because I knew that that was exactly what you were going to do."

Kawa looked at Naruto with a confused expression.

"Bu- But... I don't..."

Naruto chuckled again and pushed the blue-haired boy back towards the others.

"Good, now all of you out! Your brother and I have some planning to do."

"Planning? What planning, since when am I not a part of helping?"

Naruto looked up at Seishin. Like the others he looked like Naruto in a way. Seishin had green eyes and long light brown hair that reached past the small of his back. The last few centimetres of his hair were braided. He was the eldest of the Chiyuuki no Genkai Kage Bunshin, slightly taller than Naruto and was very wise. Although he didn't show it, he had little self confidence.

"There's nothing to be worried about Seishin! Now I need you to take care of the rats and make sure they don't drown Kawa with questions, literally. Because you know how he tends to 'melt'."

"Fine. I expect to know about it sooner or later though." Seishin said as he made his way towards the noise his brothers were making.

"See that went well." Kyuubi walked over to Naruto and placed his chin on his shoulder again.

"My, aren't we touchy feely today?"

"Shut up. It was hard for me not to jump on top of that Uchiha and beat the crap out of him. I was just making sure of a few things."

"Kyuubi, Kyuubi, Kyuubi." Naruto shook his head.

"And here I thought you said you weren't possessive."

"You wish." Kyuubi purred into his ear and turned Naruto's head. He leaned forward and pecked his lips before walking back towards the chair and flopping down into it.

He closed his eyes and crossed his arms behind his head. Kyuubi smirked as he heard Naruto's footsteps coming towards him. Suddenly his eyes shot back open when Naruto roughly sat down on his lap. Kyuubi's arms wrapped around his waist in response.

"You smell like smoke and you seriously need to lose a few pounds Kit."

"Stupid fox, you telling me that I'm too fat now?!"

Kyuubi chuckled and kissed the side of Naruto's neck several times. Naruto tilted his head back and looked into Kyuubi's eyes.

"No fooling around."

"You're the one that sat on me. So, about planning... Have you already decided how to approach all of this?"

_

* * *

_

_Sasuke was sitting by the window in his bedroom. It wouldn't be long before a certain blond would make his appearance that he knew for sure. He watched the villagers in the distance as then sun started to set. Parents were telling their children to come back inside for it would be dark soon. _

_The sun had just set and it didn't take long before he spotted a speck yellow and orange running towards the direction of his house. It would take mere seconds before Naruto would enter his room and try to talk to him. He had already told Tsunade not to tell Naruto the complete extent of his sentence. That was something the blond didn't need to know._

_He watched as Naruto ran up to the door and flashed a piece of paper in front on the Anbu's face before running through the front door. Sasuke listened as Naruto slowly made his way up the stairs and heard Naruto gulp before he knocked on the door._

_Deciding to start his act Sasuke remained silent. He stared out in front of him, looking up at the stars. The door opened slowly._

_"H-hey Sasuke... I came to see how you were doing."_

_Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto. His hair was slightly more dishevelled than usual and a light red flush covered his cheeks, probably because he had been running to come and see him. Instead of being their usual blue, Naruto's eyes were red. Sasuke turned his head back towards the window._

_He waited for Naruto to start talking again, but all he heard was shuffling of feet and heard his bed creak as Naruto sat on it._

_"Look Sasuke, I'm sorry that Baa-chan ordered you to house arrest for a month. It must be very boring… I'm just happy that they haven't decided to, well interrogate you or" Naruto gulped and whispered. "Execute you…"_

_"Why would you be happy?" Sasuke asked, trying to act as cold as possible._

_"Well because… Look here Sasuke! I've been running after you for three years and you ask me why I'm happy and relieved?!"_

_"Then what do you do now?"_

_"I'll..!"_

_Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk as Naruto paused to think about what he was going to say. He heard Naruto chuckle._

_"Hn. Figures."_

_"What do you mean by that teme?"_

_"I mean, that I'm not in the mood for talking." Sasuke turned his head and looked Naruto straight in the eye. _

_"And I'm certainly not in the mood for **you**."_

_Sasuke heard Naruto gasp, he saw his crimson eyes flash darker as the boy swiftly stood up. Naruto gritted his teeth before he walked back to the bedroom room._

_"Fine!" He hissed. "But don't come crying to me when you want to talk or something." _

_The door slammed shut as Naruto left and he could hear the loud thuds and Naruto made his way down the stairs. He heard the Anbu guard shout after Naruto and he turned to look outside again. He almost felt his heart clench when he saw the blonds' face, tears running down his tanned cheeks and usual bright azure eyes clouded. He moved from the window and grabbed something from under his pillow. He held it close to his heart before hiding it again._

_"It's for your own good, dobe."_

_He sat down on his bed and grabbed the document once again. It was cruel to treat Naruto like that. He knew it was, but he believed that it was better for the both of them._

_Sasuke stood up again and slammed the paper onto his desk. He flinched as he noticed that his fingernails had pierced his skin, not knowing when he had clutched his fists. _

_"I can't believe I'm getting so worked up about this!" Sasuke growled._

_He looked up at a shelf next to him and shouted as he threw everything off of it. In his frustration he also punched the wall. He pulled his hand out of the deep dent and rested his forehead against the wall._

_"Gods, if only..."_

_Walking back towards the desk, Sasuke picked up the document once more and read it thoroughly for the first time since he had gotten it. His eyes squinted more and more as he read on._

**_'We, the council of the village of Konohagakure, have decided on the sentence of one Uchiha Sasuke._**

**_As he has betrayed our village we ask certain demands from him._**

**_Probation of a year and house arrest for a month. Also he must wear chakra shackles for the length of six months.'_**

_Sasuke felt the urge to rip the piece of paper into to pieces. This part was the worst of everything._

**_'Last, but not least we also require him to meet up to certain standards. Also concerning the future of himself and his bloodline-'_**_

* * *

_

Sasuke opened his eyes to glare at the person who was shaking him. He looked into the eyes of Kiba and scowled.

"Hey Sasuke, what kind of a ninja do you think you are?! Sleeping on the job? I thought you were supposed to be this super, awesome genius guy."

"Do you want me to strangle you Inuzuka?"

"What?"

"Let. Me. Go."

Kiba let Sasuke's shoulders go and Sasuke pushed himself up onto his feet. He brushed off his clothes and looked up at the sky, the full moon shining down on him.

"Come on. Sakura is going to stay here tonight and keep that Shion girl company. Lee and Neji already left, of course leaving me to go and track down your lazy ass."

"Nobody asked you to look for me."

"Hey. It's my new personal hobby." Kiba said, flashing a toothy grin at Sasuke.

He stood next to the raven and wrapped his arm around the taller shinobi's shoulders.

"Let's go and get some sleep! Although I don't really know if you need it anymore."

"Shut up Kiba."

Kiba laughed and softly punched Sasuke's shoulder before walking towards the edge of the roof.

"Fine, Neji told me to tell you that you are expected to return here at ten tomorrow morning."

Kiba saluted before he jumped off of the roof and made his way home.

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He was having that dream more often again. It wasn't one of his favourite memories, no far from it. He jumped off of the roof and made his way back to his house. He actually regretted the decisions he had made those few years ago. Now he was determined to get Naruto back and tell him the truth.

The sentence still held him in its grip. He knew that he was probably going to break the agreement anyway and suffer the consequence. Not that it really mattered anymore. Even if Naruto came back to the village.

**_

* * *

_**

**_Wow, that chapter only took me about 2 weeks.. I hope you all liked it! I have vacation now, although I can't promise anything! Now...._**

**_Naruto & Kiba: HIT THAT REVIEW BUTTON!!!!!!  
TDaL: :nods: Listen to the noobs_**

**_

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_**_

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_


	5. Chapter 4

**Here it is, the next chapter! I kept you all waiting I know... But your wait sure was worth it!  
This is the chapter where we start going back in time to find out what Naruto did during his travels. And I'm sure a certain someone, yes that's you Madidi! xD Is gonna like this chapter x33 **

**Disclaimer: Santa doesn't exist because I still don't own Naruto & Co.  
Warnings: You should know them by now.**

* * *

Kyuubi chuckled as he listened to Naruto and tightened his grip on the others waist.

"That sounds rather interesting… What do you mortals always say? Keep your friends close but-?"

"Keep your enemies closer. That's exactly what I'm planning to do…"

* * *

_**Day 5**__**  
**_  
_How long had he been walking now? Naruto looked up at the sky and concluded that it was about two in the afternoon. In total he had been walking for four days and fifteen hours since he had left Suna. He only stopped when necessary and was careful to avoid all large villages. As he walked on he saw a familiar sight._

_A giant bridge stretched over the ocean to a small village. Naruto slightly smiled at the sight of it. Excited he ran closer and stood in awe as he marveled its beauty after all these years._

_Only then did he see what the bridge had been named. 'The Great Naruto Bridge'. The sight of it made him laugh out loud. _

_He performed a henge and wrapped his dark brown cloak around him and pulled up the hood to conceal his face. He crossed the bridge and made his way into town. He dropped by a small flower shop and a fruit stall and made his way towards the outskirts of town._

_Naruto followed a trail over the fields, slightly worn from use over the years and walked up to a cliff. He looked around for a moment trying to find what he was looking for and stepped into a small clearing._

_Before him were two memorials. Two wooden crosses standing side by side. They were clean to his surprise and once fresh flowers in a vase had withered. Naruto threw the flowers away and placed the ones he had bought in the small vase and filled it with water. He sat down and breathed in deeply and sat still for a moment._

_It'd been years since he had last been here. He didn't know why though. He could always rest here and he loved the smell of the ocean. _

"_Hey Haku, Zabuza. Wow, it's been a really long time hasn't it? I'm sorry I haven't come to see you two again earlier. My life's become pretty messed up after we left this place. Uchiha got bitten by a perverted snake freak, betrayed us by leaving the village and I had to find a way to get his ass back…_

_Meh, it only took three years out of my life but what the hell?! I got him back anyway, but that didn't make my life better… I ran away from Konoha though. Can you guys believe it? I've come a long way from that twelve year old boy you two knew who wanted to show everyone that he could accomplish anything he wanted to and was set on becoming the Hokage of his village. No. Those times have past. I'm alone now; Uchiha and the others can kiss my ass."_

_Naruto took another deep breath as his emotions started to get the better of him. He continued with a broken voice._

"_It sure was easier when I was a child. And that is seriously saying something! My life is completely fucked up… I thought everything would get better once that bastard would be back in the village, but no. Everyone still hated me and I got enough of it and left. Of course the worst part of it is that I love that stupid bastard… I bet that even the two of you saw that coming."_

_Naruto chuckled softly and paused when he heard someone approach the memorial. He didn't move, but waited to see who was coming to see Haku's and Zabuza's graves. He wasn't surprised at all when he saw that it was Inari. The boy walked up from through the trees and paused when he saw someone sitting next to the graves._

"_Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was here…"_

"_It's ok. I'm finished anyway. So do whatever you need to do."_

_Inari smiled and walked up to the graves and started cleaning them. He placed fresh flowers next to the ones Naruto had bought and lit a candle before sitting down next to Naruto._

"_So, how did you know them?" Inari asked._

"_I met them a few years ago. Just dropped by to say hello actually." Naruto answered with a smile._

"_Hmm, that's nice. I take care of them. I come up once or twice a month to clean them and bring fresh flowers, although I see that you've done that as well."_

_Naruto chuckled and the two talked for a while. They talked about Haku and Zabuza, but also about their lives in general. Naruto of course only told lies he made on the spot. They laughed and Naruto handed Inari one of the apples he had bought earlier that day. Then the two of them ate in silence for a while._

"_You know, you're kind of like my brother."_

_Naruto raised an eyebrow and wondered when Inari had gotten a brother. _

"_Oh, so you have a brother?" He asked and the younger boy smiled._

"_Well he's not really my brother, but I do see him like that. The bridge you crossed to get into the village is named after him. I met him around the time these two passed away and actually saw him again a few months ago when my grandpa and I went to help repair his village."_

_Naruto stared at Inari as the boy kept talking about him. How he had shown him that heroes truly existed and how he had always kept him going. He was too stunned for words when Inari finally finished talking._

_Inari looked up at the sky and gasped when he saw that the sun was already setting. He quickly said goodbye to Naruto and bowed before he ran back home. _

_He was alone once again. Naruto laid down in the grass and looked up at the pink and orange sky. He shivered when a single snow flake feel onto his nose and chuckled._

"_Well, looks like you two can hear me from up there." Naruto said with a contempt smile on his face and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

* * *

_

_**Day 56**_

"_It really sucks you know… Being all alone with only a voice in your head to keep you company." Naruto said out loud as he made his way through a pasture. If his memory served him right he was on his way to the Earth country._

"_**Well, it's better than nothing right? I've never heard you complaining otherwise." **__Kyuubi answered._

_Naruto walked on and thought about his problem. The last contact he'd really had with another person was when he had talked with Inari nearly two months earlier and he was getting sick of it. He longed for human contact. As the grass turned into barren rock Naruto thought on, the cogs in his mind fervently turning searching for a solution to his problem. _

_He slowly made his way down a rock wall and decided to find shelter before the sun started setting. It wasn't very hard, there were a lot of caves and he found a suitable one in no time. As he started a fire he finally had an idea._

"_What if I can create a kind of Bunshin that has a solid form and won't disappear if it's hit by something?"_

"_**Hmm… Interesting idea kit, but how do you plan on doing that?"**_

"_Well I'll have to think about that first of course Kyuu." Naruto snapped and he heard the fox chuckle in the corner of his mind. He scowled as the wind picked up and blew his fire out._

_He thought as he moved his things to a more secluded part of the cave and restarted the fire. Over the last few weeks he had been teaching himself new jutsu and it was going well. Although his element was wind being a jinchuuriki helped with mastering the other elements. Kyuubi knew enough fire and earth jutsu and taught Naruto them whenever they would find a place to stay for a while._

_Naruto remembered one night about two weeks earlier. He had almost been seen by some Konoha shinobi who had a mission in that particular village he was staying in. Of course together with Kyuubi's wits and his knowledge of the small village's layout they quickly disappeared without a trace. _

_Laying out his bed roll Naruto grabbed a blanket out of his pack and laid down. He had almost fallen asleep when it hit him._

"_I know!" Naruto shouted as he suddenly sat up. "Kyuubi, maybe I can make a Bunshin and then try to transfer you inside it!"_

_It was silent for a moment and Naruto frowned when Kyuubi didn't answer immediately like usually. He heard a deep sigh and smiled when Kyuubi answered anyway._

"_**How do you know that I'll behave?"**_

"_Well, I'll be sure if you swear you will. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have your own body again?"_

"_**It would… Ok, if you can find a way to do that then I'll swear not to do anything 'bad'." **__Kyuubi said with a faint smile on his face. __Naruto chuckled as he sensed Kyuubi's tails swishing side to side and him purring happily. He yawned and collapsed back onto his bed roll. Now that he finally had a slight idea of what he was going to do he decided that he'd earned a good night's rest. Finding a way to make his plan possible would come tomorrow._

* * *

_**Day 83**_

"_Argh! I don't know what I'm doing wrong!!" Naruto cussed and punched the rock wall next to him._

_The force was so strong that his fist got buried in the wall. With a hiss he pulled it out and inspected his injuries. The cuts began to heal almost immediately and with a sigh he wiped the blood off. Naruto flopped down onto the ground and sighed heavily again. He just couldn't understand what he was doing wrong. Every attempt at making a permanent Bunshin was a complete and utter failure. _

_Kyuubi tried to talk to him but he ignored the fox. He went back into the cave he had occupied for the mean time and looked over his calculations again. He just didn't understand what kept going wrong. At first the Bunshin would seem complete and ready but then it would disappear without reason._

"_This is really starting to piss me off… I don't know why it isn't working! Why?!"_

"_**I think you should calm down and think it over again. Look over the second last row again; I'm pretty sure the first part is perfect." **__Kyuubi said slightly irritated._

_Naruto did as he was told and checked the last few rows. He groaned when he spotted his mistake right where Kyuubi said it would be. Quickly modifying the jutsu and memorizing its new order he decided to try again. He stood up and went back outside and performed several hand seals._

"_Chiyuuki no Genkai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu__!" _

_Naruto watched in anticipation as the Bunshin started forming and prepared himself to place part of Kyuubi's conscience in it when it suddenly started raining. He looked up and growled at himself for not noticing the change in the weather. He was marvelled that the Bunshin was still in place. He quickly finished the jutsu and bit his cheek in pain as the extraction began._

_Breathing heavily Naruto looked up from under his bangs and watched the Bunshin transform. Its blond hair grew to past its shoulders and became rather spiky and became dark red and his eyes became crimson red. His canines grew and the whisker marks on his cheeks became more prominent. With a smile Naruto finally passed out, completely exhausted._

_--_

_Groaning in pain Naruto slowly turned his head in the direction of the fire he felt was there. He heard steps coming from another side of the cave but didn't even bother to open his eyes to see who was there. He had a feeling he already knew who it was anyway. _

_Something wet was placed on his forehead and water ran down over his face. With a shiver Naruto finally opened his eyes and looked up in crimson ones. As his eyes focused he took in the persons features._

"_Ky... Kyuubi?"_

"_You bet it's me." Kyuubi said with a smirk as he placed the wet cloth back into the dish. "How are you feeling? Are you in pain or anything?"_

"_No, not really... Just dead tired." Naruto answered as he sat up._

"_Well I'd be worried if you weren't! You've been out cold for nearly thirteen hours straight! To be honest, I was getting worried."_

_Naruto chuckled at Kyuubi's words and sighed in contempt. He ran a hand through his hair and looked through the cave and raised an eyebrow at the things he saw._

"_Where'd all this stuff come from?"_

"_Huh? Oh I found an abandoned house a few miles to the north and took everything I could since it looks like we're probably going to stay here for a while. I even found clothes my size!" Kyuubi said with a smile as he stood up and made his way to an old, worn green couch. _

_He sat down on it and gasped when one of the springs snapped and he sunk into the bottom of the couch. Naruto laughed and attempted to stand up to help Kyuubi up. Just as he got on his feet he felt nauseous and fell back down onto the ground. Kyuubi jumped out of his spot and ran to Naruto._

"_Hey, you sure you're ok?"_

"_No I'm not..." Naruto said with a groan and he laid back down and covered his head with his pillow. _

"_See, I was right about the fact that we're going to have to stay here for a while. You need to regain your energy, which was drastically depleted." _

"_Fine... What does it feel like? Did I do a good job?" Naruto asked as he eyed Kyuubi's new body._

"_Yeah it's amazing! I was even able to make my own modifications, for example my height. You're way too short for my taste." He said with a smirk. Kyuubi laughed when Naruto glared at him and patted his head._

_They talked for a while as they ate the dinner that Kyuubi had made and eventually Naruto fell asleep with his head on Kyuubi's lap. The red head smiled as he stroked messy blond hair._

* * *

_**Day 101**_

"_It feels good to be outside all the time again!" Naruto said as he stretched. _

_He and Kyuubi were currently walking through a forest and both of them loved it after months of only barren wastelands and rocks all over the place. Things were going along smoothly since Kyuubi had gotten his own body. Of course they were still tied as demon and jinchuuriki and whenever Kyuubi felt like it he could just materialise back into Naruto's body._

"_You said it kit. It's great to be outside after being locked up inside an imbecile for seventeen years." Kyuubi said as he took a deep breath and waited._

"_Yeah I would be-... Hey! I'm not an imbecile ok?! If I was then you wouldn't be walking out here with your own body. No, you'd still be stuck inside me permanently!"_

_Both of them laughed as they climbed up into the trees. Once they were at the top they looked around for any signs of settlements and decided where to go from there. Kyuubi's sharp eyes spotted smoke coming from a small clearing in the forest and they decided to go that way._

_They talked as they walked on. It had been that way since they started travelling again. Neither seemed to get enough of the others company. _

"_I don't think that that was a village or something, probably just a caravan... Maybe we can join them? Depends on where they're going of course." Naruto said as he stepped over a fallen log._

"_Hmm, maybe we can. Or we can just ask them if we could stay with them for the night and in the morning we can take a look at their maps. There's no real need to stick around with those kinds of people. It's always a guess as to how they really are." Kyuubi answered as he tapped the side of his head emphasizing his point. _

"_You're right. Let's do that."_

_As they got closer they could smell cooked meat and Naruto's stomach growled causing both of them to laugh. It took another half hour before they reached the area and cautiously approached the camp. There were no traps so they could walk straight towards the middle of the camp where they encountered a small group of men huddled by the fire._

_Still weary they approached silently. One of the men looked up and nudged his neighbor. The others looked up as well and Naruto chuckled nervously as they stared at him and Kyuubi._

"_Hey, we've been travelling for a while now and were wondering if we could maybe spend the night in your camp and take a look at your maps in the morning before we go?" Naruto asked casually._

_The men looked at them first before one man nodded and stood up._

"_My name is Kaiza. You two can stay if you like. My friends and I don't mind." _

_Kyuubi and Kaiza shook hands while Naruto started to set up their camping equipment. Once he was done he joined the others around the fire and listened as they told stories and ate the meat they had smelled earlier. Naruto laughed along with the others and smiled._

"_So what do you guys do?"_

"_Meh, nothing important. We travel across the whole ninja continent and pick up and deliver things when asked. Makes a lot of good cash." Kaiza said as he rubbed his thumb and his first two fingers together._

"_We got about 5 million ryo last time. I don't think it was enough though. We had to go through a great deal of trouble to get that package. Almost unfair." One of the other men said.__"You're so right my friend." _

_They talked on for a long time and didn't go to bed until deep in the night._

_--_

_A few hours later Naruto suddenly woke up feeling a hostile presence and he grabbed a kunai from under his bed roll, but was too late. His hand was being held in a strong grip and a long knife was pressed against his neck._

_He looked up and growled as he looked into Kaiza's eyes. He could hear Kyuubi struggling beside him. Not even he was strong enough to throw three fully grown men off of him._

"_Tsk… Don't look at me that way. I really don't want to hurt you. Honestly! It's just that… We're bounty hunters and it's hard to let such a chance go by. I know some people who would pay big money for you Uzumaki Naruto."_

"_Hn, so you figured out who I was anyway."_

"_Well it wasn't that hard even though we never got a name. It's just coincidence that you and your friend came along just as we were looking though a bingo book and BAM! There you were, suddenly standing in front of us. I would've thought you'd be way more cautious than that. Although your friend is an unknown person to us… We couldn't find files on him in any of our databases." Kaiza explained._

"_Well I wouldn't expect you to… See I've only had my own body for about a month now."_

"_Own… Body?"_

"_Why yes… I'm otherwise known as-" Kyuubi looked up with an evil glint in his eyes and smirked. "The Kyuubi no Yoko."_

_The men holding Kyuubi down gasped as red chakra covered his body and he transformed into a nine-tailed fox the size of a large tiger. _

_Kaiza cussed and immediately told his men to retreat. Just as he was about to leave himself he felt the familiar cold metal of a kunai pressed against his own neck. He looked to the side and cursed himself for being caught off guard. Naruto cut Kaiza's throat open with his kunai and watched as Kyuubi finished off the other men.

* * *

_

_**Day 103**_

"_We're never, ever doing that again." Naruto said._

"_No, indeed we're not. We couldn't have known they were bounty hunters though, especially because they weren't ninja bounty hunters... Oh well, we got rid of them quickly so no worries right? A few bastards that nobody is going to miss anyway."_

_Naruto nodded as he popped a slice of apple into his mouth. They were resting and had decided earlier that day that they were going to slow down their travelling pace. Of course they had to, thanks to all the new supplies they had obtained when they were done with the bounty hunters._

"_Maybe we should become bounty hunters… At least we'll have some real excitement in our boring lives…" Naruto said, looking through his pack for the map._

"_What, do you think it'd be fun to pretend to go after ourselves once? That chance is going to be pretty high since demands for the capture missing Nin are going up. You saw that in the bingo book remember?"_

"_I guess you're right… Again."_

"_I'm mostly right because I like being right all the time."_

"_You stupid fox!" Naruto playfully kicked Kyuubi in the side causing him to fall over._

_With a growl Kyuubi sat back up and pushed Naruto resulting in the blond dropping his apple into the dirt._

"_I was eating that!"_

_Naruto lunged to the side and jumped onto Kyuubi. The two laughed as they fought and rolled over the forest floor trying to pin the other to the ground. After minutes of struggling Kyuubi finally managed to pin Naruto down and he smirked in triumph._

"_I won!"_

_Both of them laughed and it was quiet again a few seconds later. Naruto couldn't hear anything except his rapid heartbeat and him and Kyuubi breathing. He was panting slightly and looked up at Kyuubi above him and was confused when he slowly moved closer to his face._

"_Kyuu?"_

"_You know I never really thanked you for what you did for me…" Kyuubi whispered as he looked in Naruto's eyes._

_Naruto was about to answer when Kyuubi leaned down further and pressed his lips against Naruto's. It took a few seconds before Naruto finally processed the others actions and he used all his strength to push Kyuubi back up. He looked up again and was surprised at the blush adorning the others face._

"_What was that for?" Naruto asked breathlessly._

"_I was thanking you and this-" Kyuubi said as he leaned back down. "Is because I want to."_

_He kissed Naruto again and smirked as he felt the other stiffen slightly under him. Kyuubi chuckled under his breath as he looked into surprised azure eyes and pinched Naruto's side. The blond gasped and Kyuubi quickly took that to his advantage. _

_His tongue skillfully entered Naruto's mouth and he nudged Naruto's tongue with his own to try and get him to participate. After a few seconds of hesitation Naruto's eyes slid shut as he melted into the kiss. Their tongues moved against each other's and Naruto couldn't help but moan in pleasure. An image of dark hair and black eyes appeared in his mind and Naruto gasped._

_The blond broke the kiss and slightly pushed Kyuubi off of him. As he willed his body to calm down he took a few deeps breaths. Once his heartbeat had started beating slower again he looked up and glared up at Kyuubi who was smirking above him._

"_What the hell was that?!" He demanded as he wiped his mouth off on his sleeve._

"_I believe you call that a kiss."_

"_You… You… Stupid fox! You don't just…" Naruto blushed as he struggled to find words and Kyuubi leaned down and pecked him on the cheek before he got off of him and made his way back to camp._

_Naruto stayed on the ground as he watched Kyuubi's figure grow smaller. He brought his hand up to his mouth and ran his fingers over his lips. With a huff he stood back up and made his way back to camp as well. When he found it he saw Kyuubi happily eating a pack of dango and humming._

"_Ah! So he returns!"_

"_Yeah…" Naruto said as he sat down on his bedroll and shut his eyes._

"_What are you doing?"_

"_I'm going to take a nap and you'd better not wake me or I'll punch you all the way to Mars."_

"_Ok." Kyuubi shrugged and crawled over to Naruto and kissed his forehead. He laughed as he dodged Naruto's fist and watched the other lay back down._

"_That also counts for molesting me in my sleep."_**_

* * *

_**

_**Day 134**_

"_Where the heck are we?!"_

"_I don't know! Maybe I'm holding the map upside down or something?" Naruto turned the map sideways and studied it before he turned it upside down._

_Kyuubi groaned and snatched the map out of Naruto's hands. He looked at it himself and tried to determine how far they had walked. He traced the path they had been following and rolled his eyes when he felt Naruto place his hands on his shoulders to look along with him._

"_We started the new map two weeks ago and we walked a long way along this trail. If I'm right then we're about here… Close to a small fisher's village called Sakana."_

"_Awesome a village named fish, let's see if we can stay there and earn some money helping around. I'd murder to sleep in a real bed again."_

"_We have enough money."_

"_I like earning money more than stealing it from some bounty hunters we killed. It'll give us something to do for a while right?" Naruto said with a pout._

"_We didn't steal it… It wasn't anyone's possession anymore so we took it for our own well being."_

_Naruto scoffed as he pushed himself off of Kyuubi. "Smart ass."_

_Kyuubi was about to retort when an unpleasant warmth filled him. He lost his footing and leaned against a tree. He could hear Naruto saying something but couldn't make up what. The warmth disappeared and Kyuubi looked up at Naruto panting heavily._

"_What the hell was that?! Are you ok?" Naruto asked concerned._

_Kyuubi didn't answer as he pushed himself off of the tree and grabbed all the things he had been carrying and shoved the rest in Naruto's arms._

_Naruto was stunned as he was pulled back into the forest. They had just come from that way and Naruto wasn't sure if he liked this. He didn't have much help from Kyuubi who only answered his questions with shorts grunts and he watched as Kyuubi made a cave within a hill. He was pulled inside and all his supplies were snatched out of his hands and thrown into a corner._

"_I don't get it! I thought we were going to Sakana!" Naruto watched Kyuubi as he walked from one side of the cave to the other setting up their things._

_He was about to approach the other when he was pushed into the wall behind him and Kyuubi pinned his hands above his head. Soft lips covered his and he kissed back. He had gotten used to Kyuubi's 'bad habit' as he called it and didn't mind anymore._

_Kyuubi leaned back and licked his lips as he looked down at Naruto. _

"_Once a year something happens to demons, we go into heat. I'm sure you've felt it before… Feeling hot and needy all of a sudden for no reason at all."_

"_Well it sounds kind of familiar… But what does that have to do with this?!"_

_Kyuubi sighed and he pressed his forehead against the wall next to Naruto's face. _

"_Ignorant human… What I'm trying to say is that it's that time now…" Kyuubi whispered huskily and Naruto shivered._

"_And... I was wondering-"_

"_If you could fuck around with me."_

"_No! Not like that… I just… Do you want me to walk into that town and pounce on the first unsuspecting passerby? Look, all I'm asking if you could be my mate this week ok? It's much easier with a willing mate and it'll be easier for the both of us eventually. Be honest. If not I'm sure I'll be able to find someone on time… I think."_

_Naruto didn't know what to say. He was already stunned from the fact that he was pushed against a wall and he felt like Kyuubi was cornering him in. It's not that he didn't want to, but the idea itself still scared him. He'd never done anything like that before, so how was he supposed to know what to do? Sighing Naruto thought through his options again and came to a conclusion._

"_Kyuubi… I-"_

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**Mwhahahahah! Oh I'm so evil at leaving it right there! What's Naruto gonna do?! Please don't forget to ****REVIEW****!**

**Naruto: You're making me choose?!  
Kyuubi: Well you know you'll choose me anyway…  
Naruto: But-!  
Sasuke: *comes crashing in* Back off! He's MINE!!  
Naruto: Wtf are you doing here?! You're not even in this scene!  
TDaL: Mmm I think I'll stick around to see how this ends *grabs popcorn***


	6. Chapter 5

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!! This** **chapter is slightly shorter than the last... But I updated within 6 days~! You guys have got to love me for caring for you so much x]  
Now you will get the answer what is going to happen between Naruto and Kyuubi! Not that you didn't already have an idea of what was going to happen anyway... xD  
So everyone, and you _demon'slOver_ enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto & Co. aren't mine, if they were you would know.  
Warnings: LEMON!! If you can't handle two guys doing things together then I suggest you press the always handy back button.**

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_Naruto didn't know what to say. He was already stunned from the fact that he was pushed against a wall and he felt like Kyuubi was cornering him in. It's not that he didn't want to, but the idea itself still scared him. He'd never done anything like that before, so how was he supposed to know what to do? Sighing Naruto thought through his options again and came to a conclusion._

"_Kyuubi… I-"_

"_No, you know what? I'll give you more time to think… Yeah I'll do that…" Kyuubi stepped away from Naruto and shoved his hands into his pockets and started to walk away._

_He gasped when he was pulled back and kissed. Kyuubi blinked and focused on Naruto's blushing face and he couldn't help but smirk._

"_I'll do it ok?! Just make sure that I'm still in one piece before the end of the week. After that we're going to Sakana whether you like it or not!" Naruto said looking away, knowing that he was blushing furiously. _

"_Sure thing kit. Let me get supplies and you can set up our things. We'd best be prepared right?"_

_Kyuubi walked off and left a bedazzled Naruto behind. He had half expected Kyuubi to jump him immediately after he had agreed with him. With a sigh Naruto turned to look where Kyuubi had set everything down. He made his way to the things and started to set them up. He muttered under his breath as he started the fire and kept looking to the cave entrance. The blond didn't feel like being snuck up from behind at the moment._

_Another hour past and Naruto was sitting on his bedroll next to the fire. It was getting dark outside and he couldn't help but admit that he was getting worried. Maybe Kyuubi had suddenly gone into heat? No, Naruto shook his head. He was sure that if that had been the case Kyuubi would have made his way back to the cave._

_Naruto reached over to the side and grabbed a banana out of his pack. His ramen stash had since long been gone and Kyuubi wouldn't let Naruto buy anymore. So he decided to settle with other food. Among his favorites were many fruits. He loved how sweet most of them tasted._

_Naruto paused just as he was going to bite down into the banana when he heard a twig break from outside. He narrowed his eyes hoping to see what had caused the noise and sighed in relief when Kyuubi entered the cave with a large pack on his back and a very amused face._

"_Well… Looks like you're already practicing. Sucking a banana is a very good way too-" Kyuubi quickly dodged to the side when he saw a shoe come his way. The shoe smashed against the cave wall and fell down to the ground._

_Kyuubi looked back at Naruto who was chewing the piece he had just bitten off and walked over to him. He saw Naruto's eyes narrow slightly and he kneeled down in front of the other._

"_You know I'm pretty hungry…" Kyuubi leaned forward and claimed Naruto's lips. _

_He slid one hand under Naruto's shirt and the other at the back of Naruto's neck pulling him closer. Naruto moaned as Kyuubi's hand caressed his chest and his tongue slipped into his mouth. His eyes widened and sputtered and pushed the other away._

"_Mmm…" Kyuubi licked his lips after he finished chewing the bits of banana he had seized from Naruto's mouth._

"_THAT'S DISGUSTING!"_

"_Ssh!! Do you want to alert everyone that we're here?" Kyuubi hissed._

_Naruto shook his head and stood up to pull the pack off of Kyuubi's pack. He set it down on the ground and quickly placed the contents where they belonged._

_Kyuubi shook his head and started to make their dinner._

_They sat down a while later as they ate fish Kyuubi had gotten from the village._

"_This heat thing… When is it going to begin?" Naruto asked with slight hesitation._

"_Sometime tonight."_

"_Oh… Ok, guess I'll have to keep an eye on you then!"_

"_You can. Not that I can guarantee that you can notice it." Kyuubi said as he sipped water out of his canteen._

"_But… Aren't I supposed to feel it as well? Seeing that you're still a part of me?"_

_Kyuubi paused and thought about it for a while until he chuckled and nodded. He couldn't help but smile at how oblivious yet smart Naruto could be sometimes. As the blond started getting ready to take a nap Kyuubi couldn't take his eyes off tanned skin. He watched in anticipation as Naruto started taking his pants off and licked his lips._

_He frowned when that luscious body disappeared under a blanket. Pouting as he crossed his arms across his chest he leaned against the cave wall and waited. Naruto was going to be in for the surprise of his life._

_-----_

_Naruto groaned as a soft noise roused him from his sleep. He stayed put, hoping to be able to fall asleep again. Rolling over he hissed as his skin bumped against something boiling hot. The blond grumbled and opened his eyes to see what was lying next to him. His eyes focused on crimson eyes and he gasped at how close they were. A soft chuckle rumbled from Kyuubi's chest and Naruto hissed as a hot hand caressed his cheek._

"_Naruto…" Naruto shivered and gasped at how low and husky Kyuubi's voice was._

_He couldn't help but feel hot as well as his eyes roamed over Kyuubi's already naked body. The blanket was pulled off of his body and replaced by Kyuubi's hot body. Naruto groaned as more of the hot flesh pressed onto his. He was panting by the time their eyes met again and Kyuubi was leaning on his hands on Naruto's chest, leaving only a few millimeters between their lips._

"_Naruto…" Kyuubi whispered again before he closed the distance between them._

_The kiss was rough and needy, everything Naruto had thought it would be. Fangs nipped at his bottom lip and he responded by opening his mouth slightly. Kyuubi's tongue slid into his mouth and started exploring every inch of it. Naruto moaned into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Kyuubi's neck and gripped at his hair. Kyuubi's hands were never idle. They moved over his chest and sometimes paused to tweak brown nipples which made Naruto arch his back in pleasure._

_Kyuubi broke the kiss and leaned back, a trail of saliva still attaching them together. He moved his head down and kissed the blonds' neck. He moved down lower until he reached the junction where Naruto's neck and shoulder met and bit down into it._

_A loud shout of pleasure erupted from Naruto's body and he arched his back moaning as his clothed member rubbed against Kyuubi's. The fox smirked and lapped up the blood before leaning up to kiss Naruto again. Naruto marveled at the how the coppery taste enhanced his pleasure as they kissed again._

_Kyuubi broke away again and moved his way down Naruto's body. He paused at Naruto's nipple and licked it, his eyes never leaving Naruto's face. Naruto gasped as he felt Kyuubi's mouth on one of his nipples and his hand worrying the other one. _

_Meanwhile Kyuubi's other hand moved down lower and tugged Naruto's boxers off. Naruto hissed as his member met the cool night air._

"_Oh god Kyuu-!" Naruto arched his back as Kyuubi's mouth suddenly wrapped around his member and shuddered as the fox chuckled sending tremors through his body._

_Kyuubi moaned as he looked up at Naruto's pleasure stricken face and slowly started to bob his head up and down. His tongue ran against Naruto's dick as he moved up and he sucked as he moved back down. Naruto's hands buried themselves in his hair and guided him in his tempo. Kyuubi grabbed onto tanned thighs as Naruto arched up. He deep throated the blond and buried his nose in blond curls. Just as Naruto was going to voice his incoming climax Kyuubi removed his mouth from his member and kissed the slit leaking pre-cum before speaking again._

"_On your hands and knees Naruto." He said and watched as the blond obeyed his orders._

_Naruto couldn't help but blush slightly as he realized he was opening himself completely for the other, but groaned as rough, although no longer hot hands grabbed a hold of his thighs. He pressed his forehead onto the ground as he waited in anticipation._

_Naruto gasped loudly as something wet entered him. _

_Kyuubi smirked as his moved his tongue in and out of Naruto's puckered hole. Loosening him up for what was to come. His hands gripped Naruto's thighs tighter as he groaned thinking about how tight Naruto was going to be. He finished rimming Naruto and grabbed a small tube he had bought earlier that day. Kyuubi squirted the contents of the tube onto his fingers and wiggled them to even it out. He sat up again and kissed Naruto's lower back as he inserted the first finger._

_He could feel Naruto tense up around him and whispered sweet nothings as he moved his finger to try and get the other to loosen up again. Thinking quickly Kyuubi leaned down again and took Naruto's member into his mouth as he added the second finger. He could hear Naruto's pleasure filled moan behind him and he started scissoring his fingers before he added the third. _

_He waited until Naruto's hips were rocking back against his fingers to find that one spot which would drive his mate crazy. After feeling around some he found what he was looking for and pressed against it. Naruto moaned loudly as Kyuubi kept assaulting his prostate and kept sucking at his member. _

"_Ah I'm-!" Naruto shouted out as he came not being able to withstand both pleasures at the same time._

_He fell down onto his elbows as Kyuubi's fingers retracted and panted as he watched Kyuubi position himself. Kyuubi pressed his chest against Naruto's back and entered Naruto with one thrust. The blond shouted in pain and Kyuubi waited as he adjusted._

"_It hurts! Oh gods Kyuubi, pull it out!" Naruto protested._

"_Ngh… Just endure it, it's going to get better I promise." Kyuubi kissed Naruto's neck and tried not to cum from entering the blond's tight hold. He shut his eyes as he took in Naruto's musky scent. _

_Naruto shook his head and bit his bottom lip as tears escaped from his eyes. They snapped open as a hand cupped the side of his face and turned it so that he was looking at Kyuubi again. The fox kissed away his tears before kissing him again. Naruto grunted as Kyuubi pulled out and plunged back in. It still hurt as hell, but there was a tinge of pleasure that made it bearable. _

_Kyuubi set up an even pace to help Naruto adjust to the feeling and gripped his hips tightly. Both of them groaned as he set up as faster pace and he changed his angle slightly. Naruto gasped as Kyuubi struck his prostate and moaned in pleasure. He felt Kyuubi smirk against his back as he kept thrusting at that angle. _

"_Aah! H-harder." Naruto said as he covered his mouth with his arm._

"_What did you say? I couldn't quite hear you." Kyuubi said as he kissed along Naruto's shoulder._

"_God Kyuubi! HARDER!"_

_Kyuubi smirked as he complied with Naruto's wishes and savored the sounds Naruto was making under him. He grunted as he realized he was close to completion and bit down into the spot in Naruto's neck where he had bitten earlier. Naruto shouted as pleasure wrecked through his body and came for the second time. Kyuubi came seconds after biting down harder as Naruto tightened even more around him. _

_Naruto tried to catch his breath as he felt Kyuubi pull out of him and was about to collapse when he was flipped over and pulled onto Kyuubi's lap. He shut his eyes and shuddered as Kyuubi's already hardened member brushed against his inner thigh and listened as the other spoke again._

"_If you think I'm already done Naruto, you're very mistaken." Kyuubi licked his lips as lust filled azure eyes stared down at him and he gripped tanned hips again._

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**Day 141**_

_With a yawn Naruto opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. A slight ache in his lower regions caused him to wince as he slowly sat up and stretched. He rubbed the back of his head as he looked down at his bedmate, waiting for him to wake up and jump him. When he didn't Naruto moved to the side and was appalled to see that Kyuubi didn't even stir. He thought back and tried to count the days that had gone by and stopped when he reached eight._

_Although he was slightly disappointed that the week was over he was ecstatic to be able to follow his normal routine again. He crawled over to the other side of the cave to search for some decent clothes and took out a pair of boxers and pants and put them on. He stood up and sat down in front of the extinguished fire. Naruto yawned again as he lit the fire. He looked through their supplies and grabbed some bacon and eggs and a frying pan._

_He sat and stared into the fire as he waited for his breakfast to be fully cooked. Naruto grinned as the smell of the food filled the cave. It had been such a long time since he'd had a good meal. After all, it was kind of hard to leave the bed to eat without waking Kyuubi up and if Kyuubi woke up it meant another long round of sex again. _

_Naruto grabbed the pan and a fork and poked the eggs to see if they were done. Seeing that they were good enough he started eating. He was nearly finished eating when Kyuubi started to stir. The blond chuckled when Kyuubi sat up with the messiest hair he had even seen._

_The fox grumbled before leaning over to the side to fish his boxers from under his own bedroll. He slid into them and sat down across Naruto. Naruto grabbed a mandarin from a pack and tossed it to Kyuubi, who caught it skillfully as he yawned. _

"_Looks like the week is over." Naruto said as he sipped water out of a canteen. _

"_Yeah, guess so… Looks like I kept my promise and made sure you'd still be in one piece."_

"_Well, if you don't count the scar I have on my neck from you biting in the same place constantly then yes, you kept me in one piece." Naruto joked and pouted as mandarin peels were thrown at his face._

_He waited until Kyuubi had finished eating and was started to get dressed when he addressed the fox again._

"_You also promised that after this week we'd go down to Sakana."_

_Kyuubi paused as he was about to pull his shirt over his head and shrugged. "Well I guess I did… We'll clean things up here and go to that little village of yours."_

_Naruto shouted in excitement and before Kyuubi could make a remark about it he was already running around cleaning everything up. Kyuubi sighed and rolled his eyes, wondering where Naruto got all his energy from after such a week. _

_Because Naruto was excited to get out of the cave and to the village they were done in no time and Naruto was hyped and ready to go. Unlike Naruto, Kyuubi was rather sluggish and had hardly done anything. Not that he cared; it was about time that Naruto cleaned everything up for once. He always seemed to get stuck with that task._

_Kyuubi put his pack on and followed Naruto downwards towards the village. Both didn't use a henge since the village was so isolated and in a country where no shinobi were known. Naruto asked around for a place to stay, but all the villagers shook their heads and told him to ask at the next house._

_Naruto pouted as he knocked on the door of the last house and waited until the door opened._

"_Hello sir, my friend and I were wondering if maybe you had a place for us to stay." He asked hopeful._

"_Sorry kiddo… I don't got no space." The man answered and he watched as Naruto frowned and smiled._

"_There is a house around the bend down by the water though. The people who own it are only 'ere once, maybe twice a year. Weird people… You never know when they decided to pop up again. If I'm right, they're not 'ere right now so go over and make yourself at home I guess…"_

"_Awesome! Thank you mister!" Naruto waved as he ran into the direction the man had pointed at._

_Kyuubi groaned as he watched Naruto disappear behind the trees and the door slammed shut next to him. With a sigh he went the same way as Naruto. He listened to the waves and couldn't help but feel a little seasick. He'd never liked the ocean. Excited shouts filled the air, so Kyuubi knew Naruto had already found the house._

_He stepped out of the trees and smirked when he saw a cute little cottage right in front of a small beach. Naruto had already made his way inside and had set his things down before he decided to explore._

_The cottage looked small from the outside, but was actually really big. It had five large bedrooms, two bathrooms, one giant library and more. Kyuubi was looking through one of the books in the library when Naruto came bounding into the room._

"_This is so awesome! I already picked my room so you can choose one as well." Kyuubi nodded and made his way upstairs._

_Naruto looked at all of the books and grabbed one containing different jutsu. He studied the back and looked through the first few pages before nodding and making his way back upstairs to his room. He opened the door and was about to sit on the bed when he saw that Kyuubi had placed his things in the same room. Said fox was currently lying on the bed reading the book he had been looking through earlier._

"_What the hell?! This is my room, get out!"_

_Kyuubi looked up over his book and Naruto could see his smirk behind the book itself. This was the best room of the whole house and the only one with only a king sized bed. The other rooms all had single beds or bunk beds._

"_Well you said to pick one out so I did." _

"_Yeah I did. I meant that you were supposed to find your own room." Naruto tried to explain and he pointed to one of the other door in the hallway._

"_What? Scared I'm going to molest you in your sleep?"_

_Naruto could feel his face become red. Of course he wasn't scared, Kyuubi knew that. He'd never said it before but he'd had enough time to think in between their 'sessions' to think about their relationship. He'd decided that he didn't mind how Kyuubi was, he actually craved that attention. _

"_Fine, stay here. I don't care."_

"_Fine."_

"_Fine, I'm going to go swimming now then." Naruto turned his back to Kyuubi and slowly took off his shirt. He smirked as he felt Kyuubi's eyes stare at his back. He slid his pants off and turned his head to look at Kyuubi, who looked like he was going to drool any second._

"_See you later." _

_Naruto walked out of the room only clad in his boxers and ran down the stairs with a big smile on his face. He could hear Kyuubi falling off the bed from downstairs and quickly ran out to the beach. He waded out until the water reached his hips before looking behind him to see if Kyuubi had followed him. He shrugged when the other wasn't in sight and dove into the water. _

_He came up and ran his hands through his hair, savoring the feeling of water coursing over his body. He hadn't had any time to wash up yet so this felt amazing. Hearing a splash Naruto turned around to see nothing. With a frown he looked around, searching for what had made that splash. Naruto gasped as Kyuubi came up from behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist._

"_Hey there cutie." Kyuubi whispered in Naruto's ear._

"_You stupid fox! Don't do that!" Naruto pushed Kyuubi's arms off of him and turned around, glaring at Kyuubi's smug face._

"_I'm sorry. I couldn't resist."_

_Naruto laughed as he jumped onto Kyuubi causing the other to get pushed underwater.  
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_**Day 146**_

"_I wish we could stay here forever." Naruto said as he traced small drawings into the sand._

"_The occupants of this house are bound to come sometime. Who knows how long it'll take until they come?"_

"_I think that they're already here…" Naruto watched as a large boat made its way towards the beach, although he couldn't help but think that he'd see it before._

_Kyuubi sat up and frowned at the sight. They'd only been here for five days and the both of them were enjoying the time they were spending here and he didn't want it to end so soon. The boat stopped next to the cliffs and soon three longboats were making their way towards the beach. Kyuubi grabbed Naruto's shirt and quickly put it on him, ignoring the blond's protests. There was no way he was going to let them see Naruto flawless body._

_The first two boats landed on the beach. Almost immediately the men grabbed their weapons and ran over to Naruto and Kyuubi, surrounding them. Naruto gulped as a sword came dangerously close to his face and Kyuubi growled at the men around them. The last boat had finally landed and the occupants were making their way towards the commotion. _

_Naruto blinked when one of the men moved away and the sun was shining full force into his face. Of course he was unable to shield his face from it because he was boxed in. He almost sighed in relief when someone else stepped in front of the sun and looked up. _

_In front of him was a rather tall figure with a strange appendage on his shoulder. Said appendage moved to the side and jumped off of the shoulder and made its way to Naruto. Naruto focused on the small beast in front of him and frowned. _

"_Aren't you… Nerugui?"_

_The small ferret twirled around Naruto's legs and the men slightly moved away from him. Naruto looked up again and saw another familiar face._

"_Temujin?"_

"_Naruto?"_

"_You know these scary people?!" Kyuubi asked Naruto in disbelief._

"_Y-yeah… We met like 3, maybe 4 years ago?"_

_Kyuubi scoffed and glared up at Temujin. "And here I thought I was supposed to know everything about you."_

_Nerugui stopped rubbing against Naruto's legs and made his way to Kyuubi. Kyuubi watched as the small beast crawled up his leg and stopped to settle down on Kyuubi's knee. Kyuubi's right eye twitched as the ferret studied him and cocked his head to the left._

"_What do you want vermin? If I were in my true form I would've eaten you ages ago." _

_Nerugui didn't move an inch and kept staring at Kyuubi. The two stared at each other and an animalistic growl rumbled through Kyuubi's chest. Only then did Nerugui jump off his leg. He quickly scurried back to Temujin and climbed back up to his shoulder._

_Temujin ordered his men to back down and Naruto quickly stood up and straightened the shirt Kyuubi had put on him before he turned around to help Kyuubi up. _

"_So… Who is your friend?"_

"_This guy?" Naruto pointed at Kyuubi and Temujin nodded._

"_Why yes, do introduce me." Kyuubi wrapped one arm around Naruto's waist and the other around his shoulders. Hoping to show them all that Naruto was his. _

"_This guy is Kyuubi."_

"_Hmm… What an interesting name."_

"_What you never heard of me before?" Kyuubi asked in disbelief._

_Temujin shook his head and Kyuubi was about to explain when Naruto covered his mouth with his hand and chuckled nervously telling Kyuubi to shut up. Kyuubi only shrugged.  
_

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_**Day 150**_

"_What do you mean you guys are leaving already?" Naruto asked._

"_My men and I only come here for a few days to get more supplies. After that we move on again. We're going back home now and we're probably going to take one last stop before we sail back in one stretch." Temujin explained as his men started loading all their things to the ship._

"_Wait, where are you stopping?" Kyuubi asked._

"_In the Water country… Why?"_

"_Good, then we can probably get a ride."_

"_Kyuubi?!"_

_Kyuubi rolled his eyes and excused himself and Naruto and he led the blond towards the trees and explained to him why it would be the best idea to go with Temujin to the Water country._

"_Look, right now we're stuck between the Waterfall country and Sound. I already didn't like Waterfall and I know we don't have any intentiosn of going through Sound even if Orochimaru and Kabuto are dead or not. This way we can cross over a lot of big countries without being noticed."_

_Naruto agreed with Kyuubi and went to ask Temujin if they actually could join him on their ship as Kyuubi went inside to gather their things. _

_An hour later everything was on the ship and everyone was ready to go. Naruto and Kyuubi joined Temujin in his long boat as they made their way to the larger ship. Kyuubi couldn't help but gag as he watched Temujin and the others climb up the ladder to reach the deck. Once they reeled in the anchor and started the ship engines Temujin and Nerugui joined Naruto and Kyuubi._

"_Well, I hope you two don't get seasick." Temujin said as he eyed Kyuubi who was leaning heavily on the railings and clutching his stomach._

"_Nah, we have stomachs of steel!" _

_Kyuubi groaned and shut his eyes. If only, he wished. If only._

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**Temujin and Nerugui from the second Naruto movie appear! Kyuubi feels threatened.**

**Sasuke: *pounding on my bedroom door* HOW COULD YOU?!?!  
TDaL: Review to keep me alive long enough to write the next chapter!!  
Sasuke: *grabs chainsaw***


	7. Chapter 6

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I'm back... Again! I'm sorry to say that this chapter is a bit shorter than the last two, so I hope it doesn't disappoint you all!! Anyways, you had to wait a long time again... Sorry for that again.

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Warning: Bad attempt at humor, angst and competition

Disclaimer: If Naruto were mine, he would've gotten Sasuke back a long time ago. And be doing him every day x3

I pissed off life and it bit me in the ass. I still haven't been able to get rid of it. I'm having a rough time, so don't expect updates to be frequent. I'll try my best for you all though!  
Here's me thanking you all for your reviews! :Throws flowers over reviewers: I'm glad you all liked the last chapter and the lemon.  
I swear that took me FOREVER! XD  
Please check out my latest fic: Naruto drabbles. Read the AN and comment! I'm sad that no one has followed the instructions Dx

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**Day 152**

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Naruto winced as he watched Kyuubi empty his stomach once again. He had discovered that the fox did indeed get seasick and he was feeling pretty bad about it. Of course, he reasoned, it HAD been the fox to ask if they could join Temujin on his ship on their way to the Water Country. He watched Kyuubi trudge back inside, knowing that the red head was probably going to their room and he went to go find Temujin.

****

_It didn't take long really. Like always Temujin was standing on the deck next to his helmsman. Naruto approached them, smiling while he waved when Temujin looked at him. Nerugui scrambled off of Temujin's shoulder and climbed up Naruto's body onto his shoulder. It had become a habit for the ferret to do so whenever Kyuubi wasn't around, but when he was Nerugui seemed to disappear. Naruto decided it had to do with animal instincts, since foxes naturally hunted ferrets. Nerugui was just being cautious._

_Temujin parted from his helmsman and walked around the ship with Naruto as they talked. In the end they ended up at the bow and Naruto leaned against the rails as Temujin sat down on the deck._

"_We're lucky that the weather is so good." Temujin said._

"_Yeah… Better for Kyuubi… Poor thing, he'd be even sicker."_

_Temujin nodded absently as he looked into Naruto's eyes as the latter looked up at the sky. The blonds' eyes had always fascinated him. Although it had only recently occurred to him why. _

"_Speaking of Kyuubi, where is he at the moment?" Temujin asked._

"_In our room. Probably puking his guts out."_

"_I feel bad that we can't help him." Temujin lied. Even though Kyuubi wasn't with them often, he was always very protective of Naruto. He was glad when the other wasn't with them. He enjoyed personal time with the blond._

"_Well… He'll probably get over it. I think he's kind of exaggerating. Maybe he just wants attention, I don't know. It's hard to see into his mind… If you get what I mean." It wasn't that hard at all. But Naruto had to play the part._

_Nerugui purred as he rubbed his body against Naruto's neck. The blond always radiated a pleasant heat. Not too warm, but just right. Naruto chuckled and he reached up to scratch Nerugui's head._

_Temujin silently watched Naruto again, imaging that it was him was cuddling with the blond and that Naruto was petting his hair like that. He snapped out of his thoughts though when a bell rang, signaling that dinner was ready._

"_Wow… Is it already this late?"_

"_Yes, it seems so. Let's go to the-"_

"_I want to check up on Kyuubi first though. See if he wants something." Naruto interrupted. _

_Temujin had to fight the urge to groan in protest and settled with only clutching his fists. He nodded in agreement, and then they set out to Naruto's room._

_They talked some more as they walked through the corridors. Once they reached the room Nerugui immediately jumped from Naruto's shoulder onto Temujin's as he hissed slightly. With a sigh Naruto rolled his eyes._

"_I'll see you in a few minutes okay?"_

_He grinned as Temujin nodded and watched him walk off before he went into the room. It was surprisingly silent, which made Naruto a bit on edge. Whenever Kyuubi was alone in their room after such an episode he'd usually complain immediately when Naruto came into the room._

_Naruto turned on the light and looked around. Kyuubi was nowhere to been seen. So Naruto crossed the room and opened the curtains to let light stream into the room. He watched the sea, sighing in content. _

"_I don't know why you like it so much. It is terrible."_

_Naruto turned his head to look over at Kyuubi and smiled. The fox flopped down on their beds, which they had pushed together, and groaned covering his eyes with an arm. Naruto chuckled, moving over to the bed and sitting down onto it next to Kyuubi. _

"_You should stop being such a baby. Suck it up; you're a demon for heaven's sake! Anyway… I dropped by to say that it was dinner and even dumped Temujin to check up on you first and I think you should be grateful-!"_

_Kyuubi pressed his lips against Naruto's, knowing it was the only way to shut him up right away. He smirked, leaning back as Naruto's facial expression turned to irritation._

"_Calm down Kit. Don't worry ok? Besides, we're going to be on this godforsaken ship for at least another week. You'll have enough time to spend with that crazy human."_

"_He is not crazy! He's just different, so don't go judging him." Naruto protested._

"_Oh come on. I do not judge people. He just is."_

"…_.." Naruto paused for a second before a knowing smirk came onto his face. "You're jealous aren't you? You just haven't experienced us being together with other humans and you don't want to share me!"_

"_What?! I can assure you that that is not it."_

_Kyuubi growled and crossed his arms over his chest as Naruto kept looking at him with his sly smirk._

"_You are jealous~ you wanna steal me away~ you want to hug me~ you want to-"_

"_Oh I can do way more than that." Kyuubi purred making Naruto blush crimson._

"_Pe-pervert!"_

"_You like it."_

"_Shut up. I'm going to go get some dinner now whether you're coming or not." _

_With a scoff Kyuubi climbed off the bed, dragging Naruto up with him. The blond smiled mischievously that he had gotten his way in the end. Rolling his eyes Kyuubi started walking towards the mess hall with Naruto in tow. _

_When they arrived Kyuubi felt Temujin's eyes fixed on him and he smirked. Oh yes, as long as he was next to his Kit the other blond hardly stood a chance in making direct contact with the smaller blond. He knew Naruto was oblivious to the fact that Temujin stared at him more than often, the Kit was way too innocent for his own good._

_They sat down at the same table as Temujin and as Kyuubi sat down Nerugui jumped on the table and hissed at the fox. Kyuubi bared his fangs, growling at the inferior creature in front of him. Nerugui immediately shut up and jumped on Temujin's lap under the table, away from Kyuubi's sight._

_Temujin absently ran his fingers over Nerugui's back as the cook served Naruto and Kyuubi. His helmsman Ouhei, she hated it when she was called a helmswoman, and Naruto were talking loudly a few minutes later. They were arguing and it was clear that Ouhei was winning._

"_Oh come on blondie! There is no way in hell that you haven't had a real girlfriend before."_

"_Well it's true. Girls don't want me and I do-!" Naruto paused suddenly and a dark blush adorned his face. _

"_I should have known! Ok then, who's the special boy?" Ouhei purred as she batted her eyelashes seeing both Kyuubi's and Temujin's reactions, but ignoring the both of them._

_An image of ebony hair moving along with the wind as a pale hand brushed it away from an evenly pale face with black eyes filled his thoughts. Naruto's expression turned to one of sorrow and Ouhei stuttered as she quickly apologized to him._

"_N-no… It's ok… I haven't thought about… him in a while, that's all."_

"_Poor blondie! He has a broken heart!!!" Ouhei acted completely out of character as she jumped over the table and pulled the small blond into a tight embrace._

_The crew stopped what they were doing as they watched the interaction between Ouhei and Naruto. Many just stared in disbelief. Ouhei opened her eyes and glared at them._

"_What the crap are you all lookin' at?!" _

_Immediately sound filled the mess hall again and Ouhei smirked. She clung onto Naruto as she tried to get more details out of him._

_--_

_With a sigh Naruto collapsed on their bed as soon as he entered their room. Kyuubi entered the room wordlessly and quietly shut the door behind him. He knew Naruto wasn't ok, his eyes were filled with agony and the blond had fallen silent after Ouhei brought memories of Sasuke to his mind._

_Cautiously he made his way to the bed and sat down on it. Naruto didn't even acknowledge his presence and Kyuubi frowned. He reached up and started playing with Naruto's hair, gently stroking it._

"_Look Naruto… Ouhei doesn't know, otherwise she never would have brought it up. I'm sure that-."_

"_You'd think I'd be over it already… Am I so weak that I can't put all that behind me? I haven't thought of him for so long and when I do… I… I don't know what to do Kyuubi! I want to forget, but I don't know how to!" Naruto covered his face with his hands, quietly sobbing._

_Kyuubi didn't know what to say. Naruto was so fragile at the moment that he was scared that if he said the wrong thing he would only make the blond feel worse. Instead he lay down next to Naruto and wrapped his arms tightly around his smaller form. Tanned hands came up and clutched his shoulders as Naruto buried his face in Kyuubi's neck._

_The red head didn't mind that Naruto was wetting his shirt. He would hold him as long as he needed him. He would be there as long as he would need him. He'd do anything, anything to find a way to find Naruto a better a life. No matter what it would take. He would._

"_Kyuubi…" Naruto whispered when his tears stopped flowing._

"_Yes Kit?" _

"_I want you to…to kiss me."_

_Kyuubi paused for a moment, fighting the urge to bite his lip. "Naruto… You're confused right now and I don't want you to regret anything later."_

"_I won't… Just do it." Naruto rolled so that he was straddling Kyuubi and looked down at him._

_Kyuubi thought about for a few more seconds before he brought his hand up and softly stroked Naruto's scarred cheek with his thumb. Above him Naruto sighed, shutting his eyes as he leaned into the soft touch._

_Slowly Kyuubi moved his hand behind Naruto's neck and pulled him down, closer to his own lips. He paused again, a mere inch separating their lips from each other. He wanted Naruto to initiate the kiss. Anything for him. Anything._

_Naruto leaned forward and pressed his lips softly against Kyuubi's. Kyuubi let Naruto take control when it became rougher. He went along with whatever Naruto did. Soon both were panting as they grinded their hips against each other. The friction soon caused both to cum and Kyuubi wrapped his arms around Naruto as the smaller boy slumped onto his chest. Soon Naruto's light snores filled the air and Kyuubi kissed Naruto's forehead._

"_Anything for you my boy… Anything to make you happy."_

* * *

_**Day 157**_

_It had been four days since Naruto had nearly broken down into tears in the mess hall. And it had also been four days since he had been alone with him. Temujin glared as Naruto pulled Kyuubi up the ladder to go to the Crow's nest. Kyuubi's seasickness had miraculously stopped after that incident and the two were always together. It seemed as if they were inseparable. _

_He was sick of it all. When he saw Naruto on that beach he knew he was going to make him his. But Kyuubi was standing in the way. Temujin scowled. He was running out of precious time. He wasn't going to stand for failure. He despised failure. _

_Temujin watched the two for another half hour before he made his way to the bottom of the Crow's nest. He quickly climbed up to the top, determined to steal Naruto's attention away from Kyuubi again._

"_I heard from Kentaro that we should be able to see the coast in two days. Then in three days around noon we're going to dock in the Water country and we're going to be on our way again!"_

"_Even though I feel much better now… I'm going to be so glad to be on the mainland again. You're going to have to stop me from kissing the ground if you don't want to be embarrassed."_

"_You sly bastard. There's no way I'm going to let you-… Temujin! Hey, I didn't see you there. When did you get up here?"_

_Kyuubi turned around and glared at the sight of the blond. Temujin in turn smirked at him and turned his attention back to Naruto._

"_Well, I came up here to ask you if you wanted to learn how to steer the ship."_

"_Really?!" Naruto threw his arms up in the air as he shouted in joy. "That's so awesome! I get to steer the ship!!"_

"_I'm going to help you learn of course… And I also came to tell Kyuubi that Shi requires help in the engine room. I immediately thought of Kyuubi! He'd be a great help to Shi."_

_Kyuubi's eyes narrowed as he glared at Temujin again. The blond had a victorious grin on his smug face. Oh, if that's how he wanted to play it… Then it was on._

_--_

_Naruto had his hands on the wheel with Temujin standing behind him. Temujin's arms were around Naruto's body and his hands were holding the wheel next to the blonds' hands. Naruto happily chatted away with Temujin only listening to half of what he said. His eyes were fixated on Naruto's lips as they moved and how his tongue came out to wet his lips every once in a while. What a beautiful sight._

"_-so am I right or am I right?" Naruto asked._

_Temujin sputtered as he was pulled back to reality. He hadn't heard a word the other had said. Oh well, just go along with it._

"_You're very right Naruto."_

"_Glad you agree! Now there's a rumor going around that-"_

_Temujin only listened with half an ear as focused on Naruto's movements. The way the younger blond did everything was fascinating. There was no real way to describe it. He snapped out of his thoughts again when the door crashed open and he turned around to see who had bothered his time with Naruto._

_He gritted his teeth when a soot-covered Kyuubi stood in the doorway._

"_Hey Naruto, just came by to say that I'm going to our room."_

"_Huh? Oh yeah you do that. Thanks for telling me." Naruto said as he still stared out over the ocean._

"_I'm so pooped that I think I'm going to just fall onto bed, roll over and sleep."_

"_Yeah you do-… NO WAY IN HELL! Look at you!" Naruto had turned around, shoving Temujin to the side and pointed at Kyuubi's dirty body. "There is no way you're going to lay in bed with that still on! Fuck being tired, you're going to dispose of those filthy clothes and take a shower! Then you can lie down!"_

"_Hmm…" Kyuubi pretended to think for a moment. "Don't think I will. Bye~!"_

_Naruto gaped as Kyuubi turned around and ran in the direction of their room. With a scowl he started chasing after the fox._

"_YOU WAIT UNTIL I GET YOU!"_

_Temujin shouted out in frustration as the door flung shut, leaving him along. That man was getting on his nerves. He was such a manipulating bastard. There had to be a way to make Naruto stay with him and dump Kyuubi in the Water country._

_--_

_Naruto sat on his bed and sighed. Kyuubi was taking a shower right now and he had nothing to do. Well, he could go back to Temujin but he felt guilty that he had run off after Kyuubi without saying goodbye. _

_He frowned as he thought about their actions today. He knew he was oblivious most of the time, but this was way too obvious to not notice. It was like Temujin and Kyuubi were fighting for his attention. It's not that he didn't like it. He was amused by it._

_At that moment Kyuubi came out of the bathroom wearing only his boxers, towel drying his hair. Naruto let his eyes roam over Kyuubi's body. Since that night a few days ago he and Kyuubi had stuck together for a while. He didn't regret doing it or anything… The idea made him a bit uncomfortable. It wasn't like Kyuubi was really into it until near the end. But what was done, was done right?_

_Anyway, he wasn't going to do it again anytime soon. He just needed a form of comfort and Kyuubi was just there. Naruto watched as Kyuubi got dressed and smiled slyly. These were going to be a fun next few days._

* * *

_**Day 160**_

_Naruto was wearing his pack on his back and he was smiling as he skipped to the edge of the ship. It would be another few minutes before they reached the dock and were allowed to get off of the ship. He turned around and watched Temujin and Kyuubi trudge over in his direction._

_He chuckled under his breath. Their competition for his attention had left them very tired. He had closely kept the score over the last few days and it had ended up in a tie. He had expected Kyuubi to win though; he was a sly fox after all._

_With a gasp he grabbed onto the railing as the ship shuddered. He looked to the side and grinned. They were finally in the Water country!_

* * *

**Now a question... Do you guys want me to make another Naruto past flashback or switch back to Sasuke?  
Review please!**


	8. AN

As everyone must have heard weird things have been going on at FF . net Fics being deleted and authors being banned.

I for one am going to move my fics over to other sites and update on as long as I still can.

This is really short, and might be shocking to some fo you. But I encourage that you do the same.

You can find me and my fics at: http: / www . fictionesque . com /profile/TDaL and http: / anime . adultfanfiction .net / ?no=1296868973


	9. Chapter 7

**Super late... I know and I'm sorry. I could start making excuses that I've been way too busy and that I didn't have any insperation, but that'd be weak.  
Anyways, last chapter I asked what you all wanted the most and most of you said you wanted to see some Sasuke again.  
A very hard task for me. I have Naruto's part of the story completely figured out and I had to try my best not to reveal anything important that is going to come after this.  
It's short and I butchered it, but I finally finished!...yay...  
Disclaimer and warnings: See previous chapters.**

* * *

Sasuke's left eye twitched and he was gritting his teeth. His blunt fingernails were beginning to tear into his skin as he clutched his fists. He had no idea where he had gotten so much self restraint. Of course, Kiba and Neji didn't look any better though. The three of them were currently standing in the middle of the forest covered in flowers.

Sakura, Ino and Shion were a few meters off picking more flowers and making necklaces, rings, headbands and whatever they could think of. Sasuke was lucky; he wasn't as covered as the other three. Lee was happily letting the girls put everything they wanted on him. Sasuke hated to admit it, but he actually looked a lot better like that.

The giggling became louder and Sasuke could see Neji tense. How had it even gotten this far? They were trained ninja damn it. There's no way ninja of their standard should be standing around acting like mannequins. He watched the three spawns of the devil- no wait girls, skip over to Kiba. He was spared for another round.

Sakura plopped down onto a fallen log, Shion and Ino sitting down next to her as they marveled their work.

"I think Lee looks the best!" Sakura exclaimed. Lee letting out a whoop of joy.

"You always think Lee looks the best, he's your boyfriend for god's sake."

"I think Kiba looks rather dashing."

"Don't you dare Ino; Hinata will have your skin for that."

Ino huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "She'll appreciate what we did for her. Now he doesn't smell like dog piss anymore."

The girls burst into laughter, nearly falling off of the narrow log. Sasuke could hear Kiba growl to the side and Neji's whispers telling him to calm down. He was about to announce he had enough of it and pull the flowers off of him when a soft whisper caught him off guard.

"I think the light flowers bring Sasuke's eyes out really well." Shion said as she blushed.

Sakura and Ino squealed and fawned over Shion. Sasuke glowered and started pulling the flowers off of him. Not again. He was done with all this shit. Fan girls were taboo for him.

He was about to stomp off, but he was tackled down to the ground face first. He huffed and looked up to identify his attacker.

"Sasuke-kun. When the hell do you think you're going?"

"Away from here isn't that obvious?" Kiba chuckles echoed through the forest.

"But you're one of Shion's guards. You can't leave or you'll fail your mission."

Sasuke fought the urge to groan when he agreed with Sakura. She rolled off of him and he stood up, brushing off his clothes. The biggest part of him was saying '_fuck the mission'. _But his pride kept him from leaving.

"As long as we do something worth it, I'll stay."

Once given permission Kiba and Neji hurriedly shrugged off all the flowers. Lee kept his on. Claiming that it brought out his inner youth.

* * *

Ino was leading the way to an underground pond she had discovered a few months earlier. Sakura, Shion and Lee followed all three of them excited to see if the small place was really as breathtaking as Ino claimed it to be.

The other three male guards slowly walked behind them. Sasuke had a strange feeling when they entered the cave and looked over at Neji and Kiba. They were only a mile away from the border, even if they crossed it underground they wouldn't have any jurisdiction on anything anymore.

"You see, I stumbled at this underground cave place when I was hiding from the rain. My hair was a mess!"

The blonde haired girl blabbed on about how the rain wouldn't stop and how she had decided to explore a bit. She had found a few hidden passageways and open spaces that seemed to have been used as shelter.

Trudging behind the others Sasuke looked around, taking the surroundings into him. It was typical that he would find himself in a place where he had memories.

Especially after what had happened in the last few days. Just his luck. He trailed off a bit as he started looking for a room. It wasn't long before he stumbled upon what he was looking for. The walls were stained black from exposure to open flames and larger rocks had been placed in the middle of the room to keep the draft from becoming too strong within the small area.

Behind him Sasuke vaguely heard approaching footsteps as the echoed through the cave, but the sounds were fading away at a quick rate.

* * *

"_Crap! Fuck! Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!" A drenched blond cursed as he quickly ran into what seemed an underground cavern, his silent raven haired companion following close behind him._

"_You should really do something about your crude language." Sasuke murmured, sounding rather pissed off that he was wet. He shook his body trying to get the wet feeling off of him._

_Naruto turned to look back at his companion in disbelief._

"_Hey, bastard! Ever though you don't use 'crude'-" Naruto made quotation marks with his fingers. "-words out loud, I'm sure you do in that twisted mind of yours." The blond scoffed and turned to look where they were._

_Sasuke walked to where Naruto was and looked around as well. It wasn't possible to look far into the cavern. After about 3 meters it went completely dark._

_Naruto closed his eyes for a few seconds, reopening them to reveal crimson eyes. He lifted his backpack and started walking deeper into the darkness. Quickly following Naruto, Sasuke activated his Sharingan to be able to see better as well._

_They walked silently not knowing who or what they would encounter in the darkness. Both of them were alert, ready to react to anything._

"_It doesn't feel like there's anything here other than us." Naruto said, efficiently breaking the silence._

_The raven beside him nodded. If Naruto said that there wasn't anything, then there wasn't. Sasuke relaxed slightly. Now he was keen on finding a place for them to warm up and sleep._

_It was as if Naruto had read his mind when the blond turned to the side and pointed at a small room. "We can build a fire there."_

_They placed their things aside as they started to get things ready. Naruto went through the cave in search of something edible as Sasuke built the fire._

_When Naruto came back with some mushrooms in his arms he grinned at the sight of the fire. _

"_Finally! I am so sick of these wet clothes!" He tossed the mushrooms into a small pan Sasuke was holding out and started pulling his wet clothes off. He hung them over some rocks Sasuke had placed to keep the draft out before sauntering over to the raven in his boxers and sitting down._

"_I'm sure I have some herbs we can toss over the mushrooms to make them taste better." Naruto started searching through his bag as Sasuke stared into the fire, looking very bored._

"_That's great and all, but you do realize that we're wasting time here right?" The raven said._

_Naruto shot a half-hearted glare Sasuke's way as he took some small containers out of his bag. "Come on Sasuke, don't be such a sour puss."_

"_I'm not a sour puss." Sasuke argued as he snatched the herbs out of Naruto's hands._

"_Yes, you are."_

"_No, I'm not."_

"_Are too!"_

"_Are no-. What the hell Naruto? I'm not lowering myself to arguing like little children!" Sasuke glared at Naruto, his dark eyes narrowing as he focused on Naruto's stupid grin._

_Naruto was grinning the whole time after that. He grinned as they ate the mushrooms and he grinned as Sasuke set his plate aside to stare at him. He even grinned as they lay down to sleep._

_Sasuke stirred as a weird feeling settled down onto his stomach. Groaning inwardly Sasuke ran a hand over his face, he should have known better than let Naruto get food for them. The idiot probably grabbed bad mushrooms. He sat up and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness that had fallen over their little room as the fire had gone out._

-

_Still half asleep Sasuke preformed a simple fire jutsu to put the fire back on, not noticing that Naruto was already awake as well. A soft sound was what made him look over to the side. Naruto was sitting up on his mattress, his knees pulled up to his chest as he was shivering violently._

"_Dobe…" Sasuke muttered sleepily. _

_Naruto's head snapped to the side, his eyes a weird shade of violet and his pupils fully dilated. He let go of his knees and slowly crawled towards Sasuke._

_The weird feeling made itself known again, swirling around his lower abdomen before moving over his whole body. Sasuke leaned back slightly as Naruto got closer to him, their bodies nearly touching._

"_Sasuke…" Naruto slurred slightly as he straddled the ravens hips and his arms wrapped around Sasuke's shoulder, his hands finding purchase in the dark locks. _

_It was like a strange force had taken over his body. Sasuke leaned forward, pressing their heated chests together as his hands held onto Naruto's hips tightly. _

_Their breaths mingled as they remained still for a few seconds._

_He didn't exactly know who made the first move, but their lips were moving against each other suddenly. Sasuke moaned as their tongues met, his fingers holding onto Naruto's hips so tightly he was sure he would bruise the sun kissed skin._

_Naruto was the first to lean away as he panted heavily to catch his breath. "Fuck Sasu… What are we doing?"_

"_I have no idea, but I don't care right now."_

_Sasuke leaned forward to capture Naruto's lips again. Reveling in the soft mewls coming from Naruto._

_But it wasn't until Naruto started rocking his hips against his that Sasuke started to moan as well. The weird feeling spread through his body as if flames were engulfing him and the fire next to him weren't helping either._

_Sasuke's hand slipped into Naruto's boxers, grasping his hard length. Naruto let out a loud moan and whispered Sasuke's name. That's when the raven snapped. He started rocking their hips harder against each other and stroked Naruto faster._

_Naruto gasped as a rather hard squeeze brought him over the edge. "Ngh Sasuke!" He screamed. He pressed their lips together, rocking his hips to take Sasuke with him._

_Sasuke came silently, only grunting softly. Both of them were panting as they came back down from their high. Naruto fell forward onto Sasuke's chest and started snoring. The raven groaned as he moved Naruto back onto his own bed and cleaned him. Then he went back to sleep himself._

_The next morning Naruto was talking happily, not showing that anything had happened the night before. In a way Sasuke was disappointed, but he was also glad. It'd be bad to lead Naruto on.  
_

* * *

Sasuke sighed as he turned away from the room to go and try to find the others again. He failed to notice that mismatched eyes were following his retreating form.

* * *

**Done! Yay! Onto Naruto! 8D**


	10. Chapter 8

****

I finally got it out! *squeals* Hehehe, I've been working on this like so often. And I was so frustrated that I wasn't able to get it right. Anyways. I was really disappointed that no one... No one. Gave me a reply on chapter 8. That also caused this chapter to slow down a bit. It makes me think that no one is reading this anymore, but I am getting faves and alerts.  
Please spend 10 seconds to push the review button and tell me you liked the chapter. I highly appreciate that. *bows*

Disclaimer: Not mine, Sasuke would've popped up in the most recent manga chapters of it was.

_**

* * *

**_

Day 160

_Naruto was wearing his pack on his back and he was smiling as he skipped to the edge of the ship. It would be another few minutes before they reached the dock and were allowed to get off of the ship. He turned around and watched Temujin and Kyuubi trudge over in his direction._

_He chuckled under his breath. Their competition for his attention had left them very tired. He had closely kept the score over the last few days and it had ended up in a tie. He had expected Kyuubi to win though; he was a sly fox after all._

_With a gasp he grabbed onto the railing as the ship shuddered. He looked to the side and grinned. They were finally in the Water country!_

_Not that Naruto would say that it was a particular beautiful sight because the harbor was shrouded in heavy mist, but just the idea of being in a whole different country always excited him. It wasn't long until Kyuubi stumbled over towards the railing and stood next to Naruto._

_The blond grinned up at the fox demon. Kyuubi had bags under his eyes of exhaustion. The last few days had been hectic for him and Temujin._

_Temujin joined them, standing on Naruto's side as they looked at the harbor town. With Naruto's request Temujin had ordered his men to stop at a smaller village to avoid the capital. _

"_Captain!" Ouhei came running over. "We're able to dock straight away."_

_Temujin nodded. "Alright. Get everyone ready."_

_Ouhei and Temujin left to go to the bridge._

_Kyuubi smirked as he watched Temujin leave and placed his fingers on Naruto's. "Well. I can easily say that I've never been so happy to see land again."_

"_Sure you are." Naruto rolled his eyes. "I still think it's stupid that the all powerful Nine-Tailed Demon can get seasick!"_

_Kyuubi half-heartedly growled at Naruto. "Let's go get our things."_

_Naruto was waiting impatiently for some of the crewmembers to bring the bridge down so they could get off of the boat. It was time for a new adventure!_

_He was the first off of the boat, quickly followed by Kyuubi who sank down to his knees and thanked some deity for allowing him to come back to the shore safely. _

_A few minutes later the crew members started unloading their cargo and some set off to get more supplies, but the rest all had leave. Temujin wandered over to the two travelers. "I was wondering if you two would like to join us for dinner somewhere."_

"_Oh we'd love to!" Naruto exclaimed spotting Kyuubi's annoyed look and ignoring it with pleasure. Temujin smiled at Naruto._

"_Then I'll meet you back here in five minutes." Temujin grabbed Naruto's hand and placed a kiss on it before walking back up to the ship to get changed._

_Kyuubi stood back up and glared at Naruto. "Kit, I thought we agreed that we'd be leaving straight away."_

"_I know…" Naruto said, staring into the water of the harbor. "But this is probably the last time I'm going to see him and I've decided that I want to say a proper goodbye."_

_That was the last said between them as they waited in a slightly awkward silence. Temujin, Ouhei and some of the other crew members came down the bridge and joined Naruto and Kyuubi. With that they all made their way into the town in search of a suitable restaurant._

_Once they had all agreed on the restaurant they sat down and ordered their food and drinks. It was an entertaining evening. Just like they had done on the ship the group took turns as they told stories. Most of the times they were very funny and there was a comfortable aura._

_It was late when Kyuubi excused himself to go to the bathroom. Seeing this as his chance Temujin asked Naruto if he'd fancy a walk. Naruto accepted and the two left the restaurant._

_Naruto breathed the sea air as they started to walk. He was relaxed. Even though it had been misty when they had arrived the sky was clear now and the stars were shining above them._

_As Naruto looked up at the sky Temujin just stared at him. The sight in front of him was mesmerizing. The light of the moon shone on Naruto's face, giving him an angel like glow. _

"_So… What are you planning to do?" Temujin asked, uncertain how he could start a conversation otherwise._

_Naruto turned to look at Temujin. "Kyuubi and I are going to explore at bit of the Water country and then make our way to Ozu Island and see from there."_

_Temujin nodded. So they had already made semi-concrete plans. He had to convince Naruto someway to stay with him and leave Kyuubi behind to travel on his own. _

"_Naruto…"_

"_Yeah?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Temujin._

"_I would like- I wanted to ask… I was wondering." Temujin couldn't seem to be able to formulate what he wanted to say._

"_I wanted to ask you if you would consider joining my crew." _

"_Oh I'd love to. But you know with Kyuubi and all-" Naruto's eyes widened as Temujin slammed his hand onto a wall behind him. _

_Temujin gritted his teeth. "No. I meant without Kyuubi."_

"_Wha-? Don't be silly Temujin! I wouldn't leave Kyuubi!" And it's not like I can. Naruto added in his mind._

"_I don't want you to go." Temujin growled out, moving closer towards Naruto. He placed his other hand on the wall as well. His arms formed as a kind of blockade so Naruto wouldn't be able to get away easily._

_Naruto gulped as Temujin slowly got closer and closer. This was a side of the man that Naruto had never seen and it was really starting to make him nervous. He tried to smile at the other, not sure what to do. Just as he was about to tell Temujin to back off the man leaned forward, closing the space between them as he kissed Naruto._

_This immediately caused a reaction from Naruto. He started trying to push Temujin away from him, even as the other blond grabbed his hands and pinned them against the wall. Why in the world was Temujin kissing him? Naruto was about to give him a swift kick to the groin when Temujin was ripped off of him._

_Kyuubi growled as he glared at Temujin, before throwing him into the wall behind them. "You get you disgusting hands off of him!"_

_With that Kyuubi jumped on top of Temujin, hitting him repeatedly. Naruto could hear Temujin scream out in pain, but he couldn't do anything but watch. His now purple tinted eyes were fixated on Temujin's bloody face. He imagined himself beating Temujin. Imagined that it was him who was beating him. He thought his nose ought to be broken. A loud crunched filled the air and a shrill scream echoed through the alley. Naruto broke out of his trance and watched as Kyuubi lifted his fist off of Temujin's nose. _

_The screams must have alerted the rest of the crew members because they all stormed into the alley and jumped on Kyuubi to get him off of their captain. Naruto pushed his way through the crowd to get to Kyuubi._

"_Don't! Let him go. It wasn't his fault." Naruto stumbled through the first row of people just in time to stop Ouhei from slicing her dagger through Kyuubi's throat._

"_It wasn't his fault… Temujin came onto me and I screamed for help. He just came to protect me." The younger blond looked over at Temujin who was being helped up. "He made an offer I had to refuse."_

_A gust of wind blew through the alley and nearly blew everyone over. It was gone as soon as it had started, but both Naruto and Kyuubi were gone._

* * *

__

**Day 165 **

_Naruto and Kyuubi were trekking through wetlands, walking around large lakes and trying to avoid getting caught in dense mist. The blond boy had been unusually silent the last couple of days and Kyuubi was finding it irritating. Normally he would have rejoiced at the fast that Naruto had finally quieted down, but this was slowly getting on his nerves._

_His red eyes narrowed as he stared at Naruto's back. When they stopped, Kyuubi was so going to confront Naruto. Enough was enough._

_He followed Naruto because the blond had the map in his hands. If his silence wasn't enough, he had decided that he was the one who was going to decide how they were going to the coast and catch a boat to get to Ozu Island._

_It was another few hours of silence before Naruto motioned towards a tree. Kyuubi's expression hardened a bit when he walked over to the tree where Naruto had already chosen to sit down. The blond didn't look up when Kyuubi approached him and looked through his pack for something to eat. _

_A foot stamped down on the opening of the pack right before Naruto could reach into it. He paused for a moment before looking up to glare at Kyuubi._

_Normally Naruto would have bad mouthed Kyuubi immediately, but he remained silent and never moved his glare._

"_You. Me. Talk now." Kyuubi said, using his foot to drag the pack towards him. _

_Naruto's fists clenched and he finally looked away. "I don't feel like talking right now." _

"_That's too bad, 'cause you're gonna have to anyway." Kyuubi gritted out, forcing himself not to grind his teeth._

_Seeing that Naruto had no intention of starting the conversation Kyuubi went ahead and did that for him. "I know that something has been up with you since we left crazy blond guy and you not talking or doing something stupid is making me lose my mind! I have no idea what I'm supposed to expect to happen and you aren't telling me anything. Hell, you've even blocked me from your damned mind! This has been going on for a few days and it's really starting to piss me off!" _

_Kyuubi glared down at Naruto as he forced himself to calm down. If there was one thing that they didn't need, was for someone to be alerted by a sudden raise in chakra in the area. It was another few minutes before Naruto decided to open his mouth._

"_I want to travel with more people." He held his hands up with a nervous look on his face when Kyuubi's features sulked. "It's not that I don't enjoy just the two of us, but the feeling I got from being around so many people when we were on the ship made me feel so…complete and peaceful." Naruto paused again so the things he had just said could sink in a bit._

_Kyuubi brought his hand to his forehead and let out a sigh. "That's it? You could have opened your mouth sooner."_

_The only thing Naruto did was smile. He had already won the demon over._

"_So how are you planning on doing this? We can't just randomly kidnap people and have them join us."_

"_Simple. We make them."_

* * *

_**Day 172**_

_Naruto and Kyuubi were standing across from each other. A circle of fire surrounded Naruto as they were preparing for the jutsu. Naruto took a deep breath, feeling his own chakra, Kyuubi's chakra and the chakra around him. If this was going to work for a second time, then he needed to concentrate a lot._

_Slowly he started performing the complicated set of hand seals he had had to memorize again. He whispered which he needed under his breath, helping him remember which he was going to need next. As he progressed the fire around him grew more and more. He reached the end and snapped his eyes open. _

"_Chiyuuki no Genkai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu__!"_

_Both blue and red eyes watched as a humanoid form started forming in between them. Naruto smiled in relief and watched as the figure started to transform much as it had with Kyuubi. The blond hair grew and turned a light colour of brown and blue eyes became a bright green._

_The newly formed Bunshin took a shaky breath and shuddered before Kyuubi wrapped a cloak around him to keep him warm._

_Naruto was about to greet their new companion when a sharp pain ran through him. He let out a loud groan and collapsed onto the ground. The pain moved through his body, only stopping when it reached his left eye. He screeched, scratching the floor to try to distract himself from the pain. He vaguely noticed that both Kyuubi and the Bunshin raced over to him to see what was going on. _

"_N-uto... Naru-!"_

_He let out a weak cough as the pain slowly ebbed away, leaving a throbbing feeling in his eye. Slowly he pushed himself up off of the ground and fell into Kyuubi's welcoming arms._

"_Where does it hurt? Are you ok?" Kyuubi asked, his voice higher than usual as he frantically started asking Naruto questions. _

"_I'm fine." Naruto rasped out. He removed his hand which had been covering his left eye and blinked as his vision went fuzzy for a moment. Once he was able to focus on Kyuubi he was met with a shocked expression. "What is it?"_

"_Your eye it's-..."_

"_Red." The Bunshin mused, his low voice rumbling through the cave they had situated themselves in._

_Naruto shrugged a bit. "It isn't bothering me anymore. What I'm more worried about is you. How are you feeling? Not missing anything vital?" He sat up a bit and looked at the Bunshin._

"_I'm feeling fine." He responded._

"_Good. Now... What to call you?" Naruto ran his hands through the soft brown hair and stared into the Bunshin's eyes. He noticed nothing on the outside, but he could see in his eyes that the Bunshin was very insecure about the whole situation. He chuckled, how ironic._

"_I'll call you Seishin. The reflection of my spirit."_

* * *

**Review please!**


	11. Chapter 9

**Short, belated... I know and I am sorry. (bows, hoping for forgiveness) I've recently moved back to Canada for school and everything has been major hectic. Getting everything together and I sat down today and said to myself. Let's finish something! And I did. I hope you all like and don't forget to review! =)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly**

* * *

**Day 1462**

Mismatched eyes watched as the small group of people walked through the underground caverns. He had been planning a trap, a confrontation, but now they were easily walking into his clutches. Slowly, he let himself fall from the ceiling. His feet made no noise as he landed.

He listened carefully and cursed under his breath. The only problem was the direction they were taking was the exact opposite way he would have wanted them to go. Nonetheless, the rest would know what to do.

-SN-

Sasuke had found the others with ease. All he had to do was follow their obnoxiously, loud voices. He greeted Neji with a nod, as he stayed by the back of the group as they wandered through the underground caves. Even though he was fairly certain that they were the only people in the cave at the moment, he couldn't help but feel watched.

His black eyes became the crimson color of the Sharingan when he was fed up with the feeling of being stared at. He turned around and looked down the path they had just walked. There wasn't anything that his Sharingan could detect and he couldn't feel other chakra then his and the others he was travelling with. Kiba's voice calling for him made him turn around and continue down the path.

The caves were starting to get darker as they walked deeper towards its heart. Sakura had lit a small torch and used it to lead their way through the darkness. Shion was walking close to her, not really feeling comfortable in the darkness. Ino was up front as she lead them the way.

"Ino-pig, you said you knew which way was the exit!" Sakura grumbled, glaring at the back of the blonde shinobi. Ino turned around with a red face and seemed to puff up in anger.

"I'm sure this was the way I used last time! It just seems that somehow…" Ino faltered as she grabbed the end of her ponytail and gave it a nervous tug. "…somehow, it seems like everything has shifted."

The pink haired girl only scoffed at Ino's explanation. "Ino. Caves do not shift."

Ino stomped towards Sakura, stopping right in front of her and placing her hands on her hips. The two girls glared at each other, getting ready for another one of their useless arguments.

A shushing sound stopped them before they could throw hateful words at each other. Shion held a finger against her lip as she listened to her surroundings. Both Ino and Sakura stayed still as they listened along with her before Shion took the torch from Sakura and started walking further down the path. It wasn't until the area that they were staying in turned dark that the shinobi hurried after the priestess.

Shion followed her ears as she softly walked along the path. She stopped when she reached a dead end. A small stream of water came out of the ceiling of the cave and landed in a small pool under it, no doubt eroded because of the constant water dripping on the rock.

Sasuke had been trudging behind his companions when Shion screamed. In a split second he came into action, speeding forward past the others as he followed her scream. He came up and grabbed her shoulders, hiding her behind him as he looked around for any threats. When his vision landed on the reason why she screamed, he could have sworn that he felt his eye twitch again.

Six small fox kits tumbled over each other as they played with their litter mates.

By then Sakura and Ino had reached them as well and let out loud, piercing squeals of the cuteness of the kits.

"Oh my goodness! They're so cute!" Ino exclaimed as she stepped forward to go pet them.

She let out a soft gasp when Kiba held out his arm to stop her. Akamaru was next to him, sniffing in the direction of the young kits to see if there was anything wrong with them. Kiba waited as Akamaru judged the situation. It wasn't that he was freaked out by the kits, but more of the fact that they were so deep inside a cave, plus the fact that they were all alone. It would be bad if their mother came to see unexpected visitors with her offspring. After a minute Akamaru let out a soft whine and sat down next to Kiba.

"Alright, you can go. But be careful! They might be carrying some pathogens!" Kiba shouted after Ino and the other two girls as they slowly approached the small creatures.

Holding in her breath, Shion got onto her knees and timidly held out her hand and waited to see if one of the kits would come close enough for her to touch one of them. A small head popped up from the mass of orange, its brown eyes focused on Shion's hand.

It let out a soft yip as it jumped out of the fox pile and took a few steps forward, sniffing at Shion's hand. She waited in anticipation as the kit inched forward, she was surprised by the size of him though, he had seemed much smaller from a distance. The kit stopped a few inches from her hand and seemed hesitant of what to do next. It looked as if it were going to take the last few steps when a larger kit jumped out of the pile and pushed it aside, growling at Shion its green eyes filled with malice.

Shion fell backwards, landing on her backside in surprise. This kit had to be at least three times the size of the other one. She nodded to Ino and Sakura to indicate that she was okay. "It's so big; the other one must be a runt." She mused.

"Their size is too much of a difference for them to be from the same litter." Kiba noticed as he stepped closer, stopping behind the three girls.

Once he approached the four kits that were still wrestling with each other stopped their antics and got up to race next to their litters mates. There they sat neatly in a row, their different colored eyes gleaming from the light cast by the torch.

Lee came up beside them and grinned widely. "Look at them! So neatly in a row, they must have learned great discipline from their mother!"

"Speaking of their mother, where is she?" Neji wondered out loud and he looked around for any sign of said parent.

They all looked around, but the mother wasn't anywhere in sight.

"They're fed well; the parents are probably hunting for food." Kiba said. He stood up straight again, keeping his eyes on the kits, there was something peculiar about them. "That being said, we should probably leave."

At that the three girls and Lee let out disappointed groans. "But Kiba!"

"No buts. It'll be getting darker soon. We have to get Shion back to Konoha."

Ino grumbled, but decided that Kiba was right. She stood up and tapped Sakura's and Shion's shoulders to get them to stand up as well. They were about to when a low, menacing growl came from the other side of the dead end.

Immediately Sasuke and Neji grabbed their weapons, everyone's eyes trained on the pool of water. It seemed to come out of nowhere seeing as the back of the cave was completely sealed off. Nonetheless, a few seconds later a large, orange-red fox came from behind the small stream of water and it had its fangs bared at the intruders. Kiba grabbed Shion's shoulders and slowly pulled her up, Akamaru growling beside him.

"No sudden movements." He said his voice slightly on edge.

The fox's lips were curl up as it snarled loudly, its blood red eyes trained on the humans who had violated the cave and tried to take the kits away from their safe haven. The demeanor of the kits changed almost immediately, their hairs stood on end as they hissed at the humans in front of them, imitating the fox that had entered.

Kiba urged them all to back up slowly as the large fox came walking their way. He slowly pushed Shion into Neji's arms and stayed his ground as he let his comrades back up further, forming a wall of defense together with Akamaru. Shion passed the torch to Sasuke who started stepping side-ways to navigate them back the way they came.

The large fox let out a large bark before it lunged towards Kiba and Akamaru. Immediately Akamaru jumped in front of his owner to defend him, taking the blow of the fox's weight as it crashed onto him.

"Run!" Kiba shouted as the kits ran forward as well, nipping at his ankles and at Akamaru as the large fox wrestled him into submission.

Sasuke didn't hesitate a second before taking off, the others in tow. They couldn't afford to wait for Kiba; he could handle himself fine while they brought Shion back to safety. Even though they had already put a great distance between them and the foxes Sasuke could hear their barking getting closer. Apperantly even Kiba and Akamaru couldn't hold back ravenous foxes.

He screeched to a halt when they arrived at a splitting in the cave pathways. Sakura bumped into him, a bit frantic at being hunted. She inspected both of the pathways. "I don't know. I don't remember anything like this." She said with sorrow evident in her voice.

"We'll go left." Neji insisted and was about to pull Shion along when she tugged him the other way.

"No, let's go right."

"Shion-sama, we are your guardians and I insist that you follow my directions." Neji said. There wasn't any time for some female stubbornness.

Shion huffed at him, ripping her arm out of his grip and ran down the right path. Something in her told her that this was the way out of there.

-NS-

His plan was working out perfectly. He chuckled under his breath, baring his fangs to the darkness of the caverns. The fear that was echoing through the pathways made it even better. With a smirk he let out another low whistle to alert the others. The barking in the distance ceased and footsteps were hurrying his way. Quickly he stepped out into the open air, setting himself down for the next phase.

-SN-

"Shion-sama!" Neji shouted after the blonde priestess as she ran in front of them. The woman ignored him to his spite and he picked up his pace to catch up to her. She let out a happy giggle as she felt wind blow from further down the way. "I told you!"

The Hyuuga slowed down when he spotted Shion standing in an opening of the caverns. She turned around with a triumphant smile. Sasuke, Ino, Sakura and Lee came out a few seconds later. Sakura leaned against the outer wall of the caverns and sighed.

"Fresh air… Thank Kami we made it out in one piece. I hope that Kiba's okay."

The others relaxed a bit at the fact that they were out, but Sasuke only tensed more when he noticed where they were standing. He stepped forward, cautiously. Impossible, there was simply no way that the caverns could lead out here. A few hours ago, they had been going in the completely opposite direction. Shivers crawled up his spine.

"The Valley of the End."

Neji came up behind him and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. He knew that the place held many dark memories for the Uchiha. His white eyes looked around to see if there was anything suspicious in the area.

It was then that Kiba joined them; he was panting heavily and would have fallen to the ground if he hadn't been supporting his weight by leaning against the cave walls. Sakura quickly made her way over to him and inspected his wounds. Most of them were simply shallow cuts and he was full of bruises, but that was it.

Sakura looked up at Kiba with a worried look and he waved it off. "We'll be alright. I don't get it though… They were all over us one second and the next they just disappeared."

"Foxes don't disappear, Kiba." Sakura said as she started healing his wounds. "They must've fled through whatever opening the larger fox came through earlier."

Kiba shook his head determined. "No. I'm being serious here Sakura. The big one was on Akamaru and I was about to kick it off and it really just disappeared!"

The pink-haired medic shook her head at Kiba and didn't comment on him anymore as she finished healing his wounds. She got up, turning her head towards Sasuke. He still hadn't moved, or made a sound since he had found out where they were. Neji was still standing next to him, although his hand had already slid off of his shoulder and they stood side by side, watching the river flow by.

Somehow the demon priestess noticed Sasuke's distress and silently walked over to him. She studied him for a second and looked at her surroundings. There wasn't particularly anything special about the Valley of the End as she saw it. The only abnormality being a large dry spot in the middle of the river.

In the back of her mind she remembered the stories Naruto had told her before in his letters about this place. She knew the significance of the location to Naruto, but it seemed that even Sasuke had some kind of emotional connection to it as well.

Her hand came up, seemingly to grasp Sasuke's shoulder, but at the last second she changed her mind and slapped him on the back of his head.

Immediately Sasuke turned his head to glare at her as his hand came up to rub the stinging spot on the back of his head.

Shion placed her hands on her hips and puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "So, mister I-Am-A-Genius. Are you gonna get up out of here and back to the village soon or are you gonna stand around like a statue?"

Black eyes narrowed and Sasuke was about to retort when a rough, low voice interrupted them.

"Yes Sasuke. Why don't you enlighten us and bring us back to the village?"

The group stared at the figure standing on the other side of the river.

"Naruto." Sasuke said.

* * *

Dun, duun duuun! Hehehe, what would Naruto want? Review!


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